'Bests  anilTriumphs 


4» 


FLORENCE  GOFF 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2014 


https://archive.org/details/teststriumphs01goff 


REV.  J.  A.  HODGES 
"  He  died  as  he  lived,  trusting  in  God. 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


BEING  A  SKETCH  OF  THE  LIFE  OF  REV. 
J.  A.  HODGES,  COUPLED  WITH  SOME  OF 
THE  LORD'S  DEALINGS  WITH  H.  H.  GOFF 
AND  WIFE,  EVANGELISTS  OF  THE  CAPE 
FEAR  CONFERENCE  OF  THE  FREE-WILL 
BAPTIST  CHURCH 


By  FLORENCE  GOFF 


Home  Address: 
FALCON,  NORTH  CAROLINA 


PREFACE. 


This  sketch  has  been  written,  after  much 
prayer,  for  the  glory  of  God,  hoping  it  will 
help  those  who  read  it  and  encourage  them 
in  their  pilgrimage  from  earth  to  heaven. 

May  the  blessings  of  God  be  upon  this  lit- 
tle booklet,  and  may  its  readers  meet  the  au- 
thor in  the  glory  world,  where  congregations 
never  break  up  and  Sabbaths  have  no  end; 
where  sickness  and  sorrow,  pain  and  death, 
will  be  felt  and  feared  no  more. 


Florence  Goff. 


LIFE  OF  REV.  J.  A.  HODGES 


HIS  EARLY  LIFE. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  in  North  Carolina,  Johns- 
ton county,  on  the  first  day  of  October,  1845.  He  was  born  of 
pious  parents,  of  Scotch  descent.  This  being  their  tenth  baby, 
they  gave  him  the  name  of  his  father,  John  Andrew,  the  last  part 
being  to  distinguish  the  two  names.  He  was  a  thrifty  baby,  was 
a  pet  for  the  family,  and  as  his  mother  died  when  he  was  only 
four  years  old,  his  sisters  took  the  place  of  mother  for  the  now 
motherless  baby  boy.  He  seemed  to  be  a  favorite  for  the  neigh- 
bors, and  was  petted  until  he  was  nearly  grown.  Andrew,  as  he  was 
called,  had  to  have  the  best  at  the  table,  and  was  especially  fa- 
vored on  all  occasions  by  the  other  nine  brothers  and  sisters.  His 
sisters  wove  his  clothes  on  an  oldtime  loom,  and  his  occupation 
until  quite  a  boy  was  to  play  around  the  kitchen,  wheel  and 
loom,  and  another  favorite  place  was  in  the  orchard  playing  with 
his  younger  sister,  or  bringing  choice  fruit  to  his  father  in  sum- 
mer or  autumn,  as  he  loved  his  father  more  than  had  his  mother 
lived. 

I  cannot  say  how  long  the  baby  wore  dresses,  but  from  the 
best  I  can  learn  he  was  about  six  years  old  before  he  had  his 
first  pants.  He  was  carried  around  the  large  farm  and  across 
the  big  swamp  to  the  other  plantations  in  the  arms  of  his  elder 
brothers  and  sisters.  I  have  heard  him  say  that  his  sisters  picked 
the  bones  out  of  his  fish  until  he  was  large  enough  to  do  good 
farm  work.  I  do  not  know  his  age  at  this  period,  but  at  eighteen 
he  weighed  two  hundred  pounds.  His  father  was  wealthy,  and 
the  children  did  not  know  what  it  was  to  want  for  food.  Of 
course  in  those  days  they  but  little  advantages  to  what  children 
have  now.  The  schoolhouse  he  attended  was  in  a  very  remote 
corner  of  the  woods,  built  of  rough  logs.  His  first  school  book 
wasn't  a  nice  primer  or  pretty  ABC  book  with  nice  pictures 
and  striking  illustrations,  but  simply  an  old  blue-back  speller, 
as  it  was  called.  This  hard  old  speller  lasted  quite  a  while;  few 
were  able  to  master  it  in  those  days.    However,  this  big  fat  boy 


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TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


learned  to  spell  fairly  well;  he  then  took  up  some  other  studies, 
in  which  he  made  fair  progess*  could  read,  write  and  keep  his 
accounts,  although  boys  in  those  days  had  hard  times  acquiring 
knowledge. 

They  had  few  games,  and  knew  but  little  of  the  vice  and 
crime  boys  of  today  are  exposed  to.  Brandy  was  made  by  the 
farmers  and  drunk  at  their  will,  but  John  Hodges,  my  grand- 
father, was  a  model  of  morality,  and  did  not  touch  it,  hence  his 
moral  influence  taught  my  father,  Andrew,  against  strong  drink, 
therefore  he  was  never  under  its  influence  in  his  life;  and  I  have 
never  heard  of  his  cursing^  Strange  to  say,  his  father  was  not 
a  Christian,  but  would  force  his  children  to  read  the  Bible.  His 
strict  rule,  with  the  other  fully  as  binding,  was  to  ask  a  blessing 
at  the  table,  which  did  not  at  all  times  set  well  with  this  pet 
boy;  but  when  his  father  commanded,  he  knew  nothing  but  to 
obey.  Sometimes  he  would  play  sick,  or  put  up  some  pitiful  ex- 
cuse to  shun  his  turn  to  give  thanks  when  company  was  present. 
The  boys  had  to  say  grace,  as  they  called  it,  by  turns,  one  at 
breakfast,  one  at  dinner,  and  so  on  until  the  four  boys  had 
learned  it  perfectly,  and  their  home  Bible  reading  came  a  verse 
around  until  each  had  read. 

Once  at  a  conference,  or  association,  one  of  grandfather's  old 
friends  came  and  brought  his  boy,  a  few  years  my  father's  se- 
nior. The  two  boys  were  out  playing  or  chatting,  when  the  vis- 
iting boy  inquired  of  his  new  friend  where  his  mother  was.  This 
unexpected  question  put  a  very  grave  look  on  the  motherless 
lad,  and  he  sadly  replied,  "  She's  dead."  He  then  asked,  "Was 
your  mother  a  member  of  the  church?  "  "  No,  sir,"  was  the 
reply.  "  Well,  don't  the  Bible  say  you  can't  go  to  heaven  with- 
out belonging  to  the  church?  "  This  question  impressed  him 
very  much.  He  answered,  "  I  don't  know  so  much  about  that." 
The  boys  separated,  but  this  impression  never  left  my  father. 

There  was  only  one  church  for  miles.  My  grandfather  gave 
the  land  for  this  to  the  Primitive  Baptists;  the  deed  gave  other 
denominations  liberty  to  preach  in  the  house.  The  Primitives 
do  not  believe  in  revivals,  have  no  Sunday  schools,  and  think 
that  shouting  is  caused  by  weak  minds,  and  things  of  that  kind. 
They  preach  that  if  God  predestines  you  to  go  to  heaven,  you  will 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


7 


go;  if  to  hell,  you  will  go;  pray  and  cry  to  God  ever  so  much, 
you  will  miss  heaven  if  you  are  not  one  of  the  elect.  "What  is 
to  be,  will  be,"  is  their  great  theory.  They  are  strict,  good  peo- 
ple, though,  as  a  sect.  This  kind  of  preaching  once  in  a  while 
was  all  my  father  heard  until  he  was  about  nine  years  old,  when 
Revs.  James  Turnage  and  Wm.  Harris  began  to  preach  at  this 
same  Primitive  Baptist  church,  Bethsaida  by  name.  These 
preachers  were  old-fashioned  revivalists.  They  preached  with 
power,  and  had  not  preached  long  here  before  there  began  a  re- 
vival in  which  scores  of  souls  were  converted  and  organized 
into  a  church.  They  called  themselves  the  Free-Will  Baptists. 
They  believed  in  free  salvation,  baptism  by  immersion,  free  com- 
munion, and  washing  of  the  saints'  feet  in  connection  with  the 
Lord's  Supper.    (St.  John,  13th  chaDter.) 

In  a  few  years  Revs.  Turnage  and  Harris  had  organized 
several  small  churches.  They  decided  to  organize  these  churches 
into  a  conference,  and  to  do  this  they  had  to  go  to  South  Caro- 
lina for  the  proper  credentials  and  instructions.  By  this  time 
several  more  preachers  had  joined  their  number,  and  Turnage 
and  one  of  the  others  went  on  horseback  to  South  Carolina.  The 
trip  was  long  and  wearisome,  but  they  went  and  returned  and 
organized  the  Cape  Fear  Conference.  It  was  then  a  very  small 
affair  of  only  a  few  small  churches.  It  has  stood  nearly  fifty 
years  now,  and  has  fifty-one  churches  and  nearly  three  thousand 
communicants.  This,  with  its  thirty-four  ordained  ministers, 
tells  that  God  was  with  those  faithful  men  in  their  little  organi- 
zation fifty  years  ago.  Rev.  Turnage  labored  on  faithfully  at 
Bethsaida  until  it  was  a  church  of  quite  a  number  of  members. 
My  father  s  elder  brothers  and  some  of  his  sisters  joined  the 
church. 

This  kind  of  thing  this  youngest  boy  did  not  like.  As  he  grew 
older,  in  spite  of  his  moral  training,  his  heart  grew  hard,  and 
he  said  he  fairly  hated  his  sisters  for  a  long  time  after  one  joined 
the  church;  said  had  he  only  had  the  power  he  would  have 
stamped  religion  out  of  existence.  He  had  an  idea  his  father  was 
going  to  join  the  church  too.  His  plan  to  prevent  this  horrible 
act,  in  his  opinion,  was  to  sit  close  to  his  father  with  his  arm 
locked  in  his.    He  said  if  his  father  had  attempted  to  join  the 


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TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


church,  he  would  have  had  a  time  with  him,  as  he  was  about 
twelve  years  old  and  very  strong.  He  kept  all  this  hatred  of  God 
and  the  church  wrapped  up  in  his  head,  and  went  on  in  this  way, 
feeling  at  times  sad  about  death  and  the  judgment,  and  the  dark, 
cold  grave  was  a  horrid  thing  for  him  to  think  about.  Grand- 
father was  a  regular  attendant  at  church,  and  seemed  to  enjoy  the 
meetings,  but  was  still  unsaved.  About  this  time  Rev.  Turnage 
married  my  father's  sister,  Sarah.  She  had  been  converted  in 
some  of  the  above  named  meetings,  and  now  became  the  wife  of 
the  preacher.  For  several  years  Rev.  Turnage  taught  school  at 
Bethsaida,  and  my  father  was  one  of  the  adult  students.  Tur- 
nage was  a  faithful  teacher  as  well  as  preacher.  He  would  teach, 
farm  and  preach,  and  has  walked  twenty  miles  to  his  appoint- 
ment in  summer.  His  faithfulness  to  his  calling  at  length  brought 
this  stubborn  young  man  under  the  deepest  kind  of  conviction, 
and  his  sisters  discovered  he  had  been  very  sad  during  this  meet- 
ing Rev.  Turnage  was  holding  at  Bethsaida.  His  conviction  grew 
deeper  and  deeper,  his  heart  melted  now  in  spite  of  his  hatred  to 
God  and  the  church,  for  this  was  his  besetting  sin.  He  cried  to 
God  for  pardon. 

HIS  CONVERSION. 

The  Lord  so  convicted  him  that  he  did  not  get  to  the  altar,  but 
just  cried  aloud  to  God  away  back  in  the  crowd,  wept  and  con- 
fessed his  sins,  gave  up  his  whole  life  of  sin  and  his  stubborn 
will.  Jesus  rolled  the  burden  away  and  gave  him  a  new  heart, 
washed  his  sins  away,  and  he  came  up  the  aisle  praising  God  in 
the  old  time  way,  clapping  his  hands  and  shouting  at  the  top  of 
his  voice.  His  eyes  fell  on  his  father,  now  seventy  years  old,  still 
very  moral,  but  without  salvation.  The  silver  locks  on  the  old 
man's  head  told  this  young  convert  that  his  father  must  soon  go 
before  God,  and  he  felt  he  needed  what  God  had  so  graciously 
given  him.  He  fell  at  his  feet  and  poured  his  heart  out  to  God 
for  his  father.  The  old  man  was  deeply  touched  by  the  first 
prayer  of  his  baby  boy,  now  a  young  man  of  twenty-eight  years. 
They  all  went  home  from  church,  but  how  different  they  felt! 
The  old  man  had  a  heavy  heart,  touched  by  the  scene  at  the 
church;  the  young  man  so  happy  at  being  saved,  and  feeling 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


9 


sure  his  father  soon  would  be.  The  young  convert  felt  that  his 
sisters  had  been  praying  for  him  all  these  years  since  their  con- 
version. He  felt  that  he  must  tell  those  at  home  the  good  news 
of  his  salvation  as  soon  as  he  reached  home,  but  alas!  when  he 
got  there  he  found  his  old  chum,  Dr.  Rowland,  there.  The  doc- 
tor at  this  time  was  a  firm  believer  in  predestination.  At  the 
sight  of  this  well-read,  intelligent  doctor,  the  devil  made  him 
postpone  telling  of  his  conversion.  I  have  often  heard  him  say 
that  he  regretted  missing  this  great  opportunity  of  obeying  God. 
He  said  had  he  only  done  the  Spirit's  bidding  that  day,  his  own 
soul  would  have  been  so  blessed  and  the  doctor  might  have  been 
converted  then.  The  revival  went  on.  Souls  were  saved  from 
day  to  day,  until  at  the  close  there  were  quite  a  number  to  be 
baptized  and  received  into  the  church. 

HIS  CONVERTED  LIFE. 

After  my  father's  conversion  he  lived  a  very  consistent,  strict, 
devoted  life,  prayed  much,  and  the  Bible  was  his  favorite  book. 
He  spent  much  of  his  time  alone  with  God.  His  closet  in  sum- 
mer was  under  an  old  peach  tree,  where  he  resorted  to  prayer 
in  the  late  evenings  while  picking  up  fruit  for  the  barnyard  of 
hogs  that  were  waiting  for  their  supper.  They  often  grew  quite 
impatient,  as  they  must  wait  till  this  good  young  man  had  his 
evening  prayer.  He  often  talked  to  God  so  long  and  got  so  happy 
he  would  forget  everything  but  God.  For  a  long,  long  time, 
nothing  upset  or  interfered  with  this  Spirit-filled  Christian,  but 
at  length  his  trials  came.  However,  during  these  years  his  long- 
ings for  his  father's  conversion  increased.  He  would  often  get 
so  happy  during  a  sermon  or  altar  service  that  he  could  hold  his 
seat  no  longer.  He  was  up  the  aisle  shouting  a-d  exhorting  the 
people  to  come  to  Jesus  and  be  saved.  His  voice  was  loud  and 
clear,  and  he  could  sing  up  to  a  nightingale.  He  was  tall,  and 
robust  in  appearance.  His  voice,  with  the  power  of  heaven  in  it, 
seemed  to  strike  sinners  like  electricity  from  the  sky.  His  prayers, 
tears  and  exhortations  have  brought  many  sinners  to  the  altar, 
confessing  their  sins  and  being  saved.  He  often  found  himself 
at  his  father's  feet  pleading  with  God  to  save  him. 


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TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


The  prayers  of  the  old  man's  children  at  last  were  answered, 
and  he  was  happily  converted,  joined  the  church  and  was  bap- 
tized. The  morning  he  was  baptized,  they  sang  that  inspiring 
old  hymn:  "  Will  the  waters  be  chilly  when  I  am  called  to  die?  " 
After  he  was  baptized,  he  said  he  could  go  on  his  way  rejoicing, 
went  home  and  set  up  a  family  altar.  The  children  were  so 
happy  now,  the  last  one  of  their  family  were  Christians.  The  girls 
by  this  time  were  all  married  except  one.  Two  of  the  children, 
both  grown,  had  been  laid  to  rest  beside  their  mother.  One  was 
a  young  man  in  the  bloom  of  life,  who  died  suddenly,  almost  with- 
out warning.  He  went  to  mill  one  morning,  ate  a  hearty  dinner, 
and  died  that  night  about  9  o'clock.  He  left  a  young  wife.  The 
other  was  a  girl,  taken  away  in  the  bloom  of  life.  These  two 
deaths  were  great  shocks  to  the  family  and  neighbors,  as  both 
were  well  respected  and  highly  esteemed  by  their  many  friends 
and  relatives. 

Seven  years  after  my  father's  conversion,  he  was  married  to 
Miss  Laura  Dixon,  a  beautiful  young  woman  of  twenty-five  years 
of  age,  an  earnest  Christian,  a  great  lover  of  music,  and  a  good 
worker  in  the  church  and  Sunday  school  work.  My  father, 
being  the  youngest  child,  inherited  the  homestead,  and  was  to 
care  for  his  father  and  sister,  who  was  a  devoted  Christian  and 
great  lover  of  the  Bible.  She  was  afflicted  bodily  with  cancer 
for  years.-  All  was  done  that  doctors  could  do  to  cure  her,  but 
with  little  avail.  Grandfather  was  old,  grew  weaker  and  feebler, 
disease  set  in  on  his  bowels  that  took  him  away  in  about  two 
years  after  my  father's  marriage,  and  five  days  after  his  death, 
Aunt  Harriet  passed  away;  both  died  in  November,  1881.  They 
were  both  conscious  of  their  death,  and  were  ready  to  go.  My 
mother  was  so  attentive  to  them  during  their  long  and  painful 
illness,  she  gained  the  love  and  respect  of  the  family  and  neigh- 
bors that  has  never  been  forgotten.  A  year  previous  to  this, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hodges  had  a  little  girl  born  to  them,  on  December 
29,  1880,  one  snowy  Tuesday  night.  To  her  they  gave  the  name 
of  Florence.  This  baby  has  no  recollection  of  her  grandpa  or  aunt 
just  referred  to,  for  she  could  not  walk  when  they  died.  The 
home  was  now  left  with  only  three  inmates.    Grandfather  gave 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


II 


father  more  than  any  of  the  other  children.  He  was  left  with 
plenty  of  this  world's  goods. 

In  a  year  or  two  after  grandfather  died,  Rev.  James  Turnage 
passed  away  and  went  to  his  reward.  Before  his  death  he  told 
my  father  and  his  brothers  to  bury  him  in  about  two  hundred 
yards  of  Bethsaida,  the  church  he  had  organized,  but  the  house 
was  held  and  preached  in  by  the  Primitive  Baptists.  He  said  to 
put  him  in  the  rough  woods  in  a  place  he  recollected,  and  build 
them  a  church  close  by  his  grave.  They  carried  out  their  beloved 
leader  and  brother-in-law's  request.  They  at  once  set  to  work 
about  their  church.  George  Hodges,  pa's  brother,  gave  the  land; 
his  other  brother,  B.  H.  Hodges,  and  he  gave  a  hundred  dollars 
each,  and  others  what  they  would.  They  soon  had  a  large  house; 
and  the  Cape  Fear  Conference  soon  erected  a  monument  at  Rev. 
Turnage 's  head  that  cost  about  a  hundred  dollars. 

The  church  now  was  given  the  name  of  Hodges  Chapel,  and 
my  father  elected  as  one  of  the  deacons  of  the  church.  He  ex- 
horted, prayed  in  public  and  did  a  great  deal  of  real  gospel 
preaching,  many  times  being  called  on  to  assist  his  pastor  in 
communion  services,  and  offered  splendid  explanations  on  the 
Lord's  Supper.  His  shouting  and  exhorting  caused  people  to 
become  serious  about  their  salvation;  some  came  to  the  altar  and 
confessed  their  sins,  while  others  became  much  frightened  and 
took  to  the  woods  or  for  home.  Some  went  over  benches  and  out 
at  windows.  His  shouting  impressed  the  children  that  heard  it 
so  they  never  forgot  it.  He  weighed  two  hundred  and  eighty 
pounds,  was  six  feet  and  two  inches  high,  and  could  be  heard 
praying  a  mile,  and  there  was  magnetic,  heavenly  sweetness  in 
his  voice  that  could  get  more  real  melody  out  of  old  hymns  than 
any  other  I  ever  heard.  It  would  make  sinners  tremble  to  hear 
him  sing.  He  used  to  point  hard-hearted  boys  in  the  face  after 
long  pleading  with  them  to  kneel  for  prayer,  and  sing  a  little 
song  —  the  words  were  as  follows:  "Oh,  poor  sinner,  you  can't 
stand  the  fire  at  the  great  day,"  and  "  poor  scoffer,"  and  some 
boys  have  told  me  they  could  hardly  bear  it.  They  said  the  cold 
shivers  would  run  over  them,  and  they  felt  so  strange  while  he 
sang  over  them.  That  song  was  his  last  warning;  when  he  had 
prayed,  cried  and  pleaded  with  them  to  come  to  the  altar  and 


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TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


they  seemed  stubborn,  he  would  then  sing  his  little  song,  and 
it  was  very  few  but  felt  strange  if  they  did  not  so  express  them- 
selves. 

My  mother  was  a  Methodist  when  she  was  married.  Her 
church  was  some  miles  away.  She  at  length  decided  and  remarked 
to  father  as  they  rode  home  from  her  church,  in  the  language  of 
Ruth  and  Xaomi: 

"  Whither  thou  goest,  I  will  go,  and  where  thou  lodgest,  I  will 
lodge;  thy  people  shall  be  my  people,  and  thy  God  my  God. 
Where  thou  diest  will  I  die,  and  there  will  I  be  buried.  The 
Lord  do  so  to  me,  and  more  also,  if  aught  but  death  part  thee 
and  me." 

She  got  a  letter  from  her  church  and  joined  the  Free-Will 
Baptists  at  Hodges  Chapel  with  her  husband.  They  lived  very 
happily  together  all  their  life;  she  stood  by  him,  sharing  his 
sorrows,  as  well  as  his  joys.  They  were  both  very  sincere  Chris- 
tians all  of  their  justified  life. 

Once  I  remember,  in  August  26,  1886,  there  came  an  awful 
earthquake  that  shook  this  country.  Houses  rocked,  dishes  rattled, 
and  bricks  fell  off  the  chimneys.  There  was  a  dreadful  roaring 
that  came  before  the  shaking  that  frightened  the  people  almost 
out  of  their  wits.  Proud,  hard-hearted,  highminded  people  that 
ignored  God  and  religion,  at  this  fearful  shock  fell  on  their 
faces  and  screamed  and  cried  to  God  for  mercy.  They  thought 
that  judgment  was  upon  them,  and  that  they  in  a  short  time 
would  be  before  the  bar  of  justice.  My  father  and  mother  being 
praying  people,  the  neighbors  fled  to  them  for  prayers.  The 
room  was  soon  full  of  half-dressed  women,  men  and  children 
and  young  people,  begging  Mr.  Hodges  and  wife  to  pray  for 
them.  Two  of  the  most  wicked  men  in  the  neighborhood  woke 
me  up  praying.  They  were  kneeling  at  the  head  of  my  bed 
praying  to  God  to  save  them.  I  was  a  tot  of  only  six  summers, 
but  I  knew  that  something  strange  had  taken  place.  Father  and 
mother  were  both  walking  the  floor  praying  and  clapping  their 
hands,  then  kneeling  first  by  one  and  then  by  another,  imploring 
God's  mercies  on  each.  Some  of  the  crowd  expected  the  earth 
to  open  and  swallow  the  whole  thing  in.    Everyone  was  terror- 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


13 


stricken,  as  they  didn't  know  what  another  hour  would  bring 
forth. 

The  night  was  spent  in  an  awful  dread  that  something  worse 
was  coming.  Next  morning  my  father  sent  messengers  for  miles 
to  proclaim  a  fast  and  prayer  day,  and  to  meet  him  at  the  church, 
that  he  wanted  to  warn  the  people  once  more.  They  were  only 
too  glad  to  obey,  and  next  morning  the  people  poured  in  from 
all  around.  They  needed  no  teasing  to  come  to  the  altar,  and 
needed  no  seat.  It  was,  "  Give  way,  let  the  folks  come."  They 
fell  on  their  faces,  and  such  confessing,  such  screaming  and  cry- 
ing. Oh,  how  willing  they  were  for  a  Christian  to  pray  for  them. 
The  revival  continued  for  several  days.  Father  sent  for  the  pas- 
tor of  the  church,  and  scores  of  souls  were  saved,  and  I  think 
there  were  at  least  fifty  additions  to  the  church  from  that  earth- 
quake revival.  Family  altars  were  established,  and  some  of  them 
have  never  gone  down.  A  general  spirit  of  religion  seemed  to 
pervade  the  whole  country  around. 

Years  went  by,  and  other  children  were  born  into  my  father's 
home.  He  was  fond  of  his  children,  and  they  fully  as  fond  of 
him.  I  remember  well  how  my  brother  and  I  used  to  sit  on 
father's  lap  and  he  would  teach  us  verses  of  Scripture  and  quote 
hymns  until  we  learned  them;  taught  us  our  letters,  and  our  first 
songs  were  sung  along  with  him  and  my  mother.  I  learned  to 
spell  before  I  started  to  school.  My  first  day  at  school  was  De- 
cember 30,  1886.  My  father  took  me  in  his  arms,  carried  me 
over  the  branch  to  a  neighbor's  house  to  go  to  school  with  his 
children.  Before  we  got  there  I  asked  father  to  let  me  walk, 
as  I  was  ashamed  for  the  children  to  see  him  carrying  me  in  his 
arms,  large  as  I  was.  He  carried  me  up  to  the  teacher  and  gave 
him  some  special  charges  about  his  little  girl,  and  left  me.  I  was 
very  timid,  and  felt  so  sad  as  I  saw  father  walk  away  and  leave 
me  among  so  many  strangers,  but  they  were  all  very  kind  to  me, 
and  I  soon  learned  to  love  my  teacher  and  loved  to  go  to  school. 
Young  as  I  was,  my  father's  and  mother's  prayers  and  hymns, 
their  shouts  and  religious  teachings,  had  a  fast  hold  on  me.  Their 
prayers  affected  me  more  than  anyone's.  My  heart  would  ache, 
and  the  tears  would  flow  unbidden  down  my  little  face  as  father 
would  pray  at  night  at  home  and  ask  God  to  bless  his  children 


14 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


for  His  glory.  I  would  retire  and  often  weep  for  a  long  time  after 
I  lay  down.  I  regarded  religion  as  being  the  most  sacred  thing 
in  all  this  world.  My  mother  and  father  used  to  sing  some  of 
the  sweetest  old  hymns  in  the  world.  They  would  melt  my  heart, 
and  I  would  hide  my  face  and  cry,  often  pretending  that  I  had 
got  hurt  in  some  way  —  convicted  then,  although  when  between 
four  and  five  years  old  I  felt  that  I  ought  to  be  a  Christian.  All 
these  years  my  father  was  going  through  an  awful  struggle.  The 
Lord  wanted  him  to  preach,  and  he  wanted  to  excuse  himself  by 
being  a  Sunday  school  superintendent,  conducting  prayer  meet- 
ing, and  such  work  as  that.  The  Bible  was  his  companion,  which 
he  read  for  mother  and  the  children  until  we  got  sleepy,  then  read 
for  hours  to  himself.  In  summer  he  did  most  of  his  reading  at 
noon,  for  he  worked  so  hard  and  was  so  tired  he  could  not  read 
much  at  night.  He  had  lots  of  hired  men,  and  those  that  lived 
on  his  land,  and  among  them  all  I  am  sure  none  would  say  any 
other  than  that  Mr.  Hodges  was  a  good  man.  He  was  good  to 
the  poor,  and  the  weary  traveler  and  homesick  tramp  never  failed 
to  get  food  and  lodging  at  this  godly  man's  home.  Preachers  of 
all  denominations  were  welcome  alike.  Peddlers  and  tired  agents 
were  all  fed  and  treated  kindly;  inquiry  was  made  as  to  their 
salvation,  and  father  would  always  implore  God's  blessings  on 
those  present,  and  many  hearts  were  made  glad  around  our  fam- 
ily altar.  When  I  was  about  eight  years  old,  a  young  lady  was 
taken  with  consumption  not  far  from  home,  and  sent  for  father 
to  go  to  talk  and  pray  with  her  about  her  soul.  I  think  she  tes- 
tified to  being  saved  before  she  died;  anyhow  her  people  sent  for 
father  to  preach  her  funeral.  He  had  never  tried  such  a  thnig, 
was  not  ordained,  nor  even  licensed,  but  he  preached  her  funeral 
to  a  grief-stricken  crowd  with  the  power  of  God  on  him. 

During  these  years  my  father  was  often  a  juror  in  the  Su- 
perior Court,  and  sometimes  in  the  Federal  Court.  Once  I  re- 
member he  was  juror  in  a  criminal  case.  The  client,  who  was 
an  intelligent  man  about  my  father's  age,  was  indicted  for  burn- 
ing a  house.  It  was  an  awful  affair.  They  were  trying  the  poor 
fellow  for  his  life.  He  had  heard  the  evidence,  and  the  jury  was 
tied.  Six  said  he  was  guilty,  and  six  declared  he  was  not.  My 
father  was  one  of  the  latter.   They  stayed  up  all  night. 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


15 


Father  called  them  to  their  knees  to  ask  God  if  the  man  was 
guilty.  God  told  him  he  was  not.  Then  he  said,  "  Gentlemen, 
I  am  here  to  release  that  man."  But  some  of  the  others  were  pro- 
fane men,  and  one  remarked  he  was  willing  to  do  the  fellow  either 
way,  he  wanted  to  go  home.  Father  said,  "  I  will  never  agree 
that  he  is  guilty."  The  man  was  a  stranger  to  my  father,  but 
he  had  asked  the  Lord  about  it,  and  he  was  sure  he  was  innocent. 
They  let  him  go,  and  he  was  overjoyed  at  the  verdict.  About 
twelve  years  after  this,  he  appeared  in  one  of  our  meetings,  •  took 
me  by  the  hand  and  began  to  cry,  and  with  trembling  lips  began 
to  tell  his  story.  He  said,  "Yonder  stands  the  man  that  saved 
my  life,"  pointing  to  my  father.  "  Had  it  not  been  for  him, 
that  gang  of  rich  men  that  hated  me  would  have  had  me  hung. 
For  this  I  love  your  father  better  than  any  man  on  earth.  I 
would  crawl  to  his  home  to  do  him  a  favor." 

While  father  was  superintendent  of  our  Sunday  school,  there 
appeared  in  the  school  a  lad  of  perhaps  fourteen  summers.  He 
was  enrolled,  and  was  the  brightest  boy  in  school.  He  recited 
better  lessons  than  any  other.  Even  the  grown  people  did  not 
know  their  lessons  nearly  so  well  as  did  this  boy.  Father  took 
special  care  to  instruct  him,  and  told  his  father  that  his  son  was 
sure  to  make  his  mark  in  the  world.  He  was  a  poor  boy,  and 
had  but  few  advantages,  but  it  was  not  long  before  he  had  a 
good  place  as  public  school  teacher,  and  was  soon  reading  law, 
and  became  one  of  the  prominent  lawyers  of  our  State.  He  told 
me  on  the  train  some  years  ago  that  to  my  father  was  due  the 
praise  for  his  being  what  he  was,  as  he  started  him  in  a  Sunday 
school. 

At  the  age  of  eleven,  the  Lord  forgave  my  sins.  The  day  I 
was  converted,  the  Lord  was  also  dealing  with  my  father.  There 
was  a  revival  going  on  at  our  church.  I  had  been  going  to  school. 
That  morning  my  mother  told  me  I  must  stop  school  and  attend 
the  meeting.  I  insisted  on  her  letting  me  go  to  school,  but  she 
would  not.  Then  I  begged  to  stay  at  home  and  cut  fruit.  This 
she  positively  refused  me,  saying  plainly,  "You  must  go  to  that 
meeting."  She  said  that  a  girl  friend  of  mine  was  a  seeker  the 
day  before,  and  that  it  was  time  for  me  to  be  a  Christian.  I 
longed  for  religion,  but  dreaded  that  bitter  cup  of  repentance; 


16 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


felt  like  I  could  not  bear  to  see  church  —  convicted  before  going. 
That  morning  father  was  in  the  woods  praying.  He  had  been 
appointed  the  day  before  to  conduct  the  prayer  meeting  that 
morning.  He  told  the  Lord  while  praying  that  if  He  would  con- 
vert some  one  that  morning  under  his  talk,  he  would  excuse  him- 
self no  longer,  but  would  go  before  the  council  and  be  ordained 
and  take  up  the  full  work  of  the  ministry. 

He  read  about  the  prodigal  boy,  and  preached  about  an 
hour.  At  the  conclusion  of  his  exhortation  he  called  for  peni- 
tents, and  I  think  at  least  fifteen  went  to  the  altar.  All  through 
the  sermon  I  was  so  convicted  I  could  hardly  hold  my  head  up. 
The  tears  flowed  freely,  and  my  heart  felt  like  it  was  breaking. 
I  was  a  prodigal  myself,  away  from  God  and  in  sin.  I  prayed 
and  wept  sorely.  Had  an  intermission,  returned  to  the  house, 
and  the  pastor  preached.  He  saw  the  congregation  was  melted, 
and  he  seemed  anxious  to  see  the  people  get  to  God;  he  preached 
maybe  ten  or  fifteen  minutes,  then  came  down  from  the  pulpit 
and  called  for  penitents.  About  forty  came,  and  the  scene  that 
followed  is  indescribable.  The  seekers  screamed,  prayed,  wrung 
their  hands,  and  cried  to  God  as  loud  as  they  could.  I  wept 
until  tears  could  have  been  wrung  from  my  handkerchief. 

Father  and  mother  were  both  praying  aloud  for  me,  and  five 
grown  people  were  so  overpowered  with  God's  Spirit  that  their 
hands  were  drawn  so  close  together  that  strong  men  could  not 
open  them.  Some  were  walking  the  floor  praising  God  as  loud 
as  they  could.  Some  were  lying  down,  prostrated  by  the  mighty 
power  of  God.  Father  never  again  doubted  his  call  to  the  min- 
istry, as  I  know  I  was  converted  under  his  morning  talk.  The  re- 
vival went  on,  but  that  day  was  the  most  wonderful  time  I  ever 
witnessed  until  holiness  was  preached  five  years  later.  My  con- 
version was  very  clear.  I  know  the  very  place,  and  how  I  felt 
seems  so  fresh  and  sweet.  The  trees  and  flowers  seemed  to  smile 
on  me,  and  I  loved  everybody  in  the  world.  I  thought  my  moth- 
er's face  outshone  anyone's  I  had  ever  seen.  Oh,  my  heart  was 
so  happy,  so  light,  so  free! 

This  was  in  July.  1892.  Father  was  ordained  the  winter  fol- 
lowing. The  summer  before  his  ordination  he  was  called  on  to 
baptize  a  candidate.    He  was  only  a  deacon,  but  our  church 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


17 


discipline  allows  our  deacons  to  baptize  in  case  of  necessity, 
feeling  sure  that  Philip  was  not  ordained  when  he  baptized  the 
eunuch.  (Acts  8:27.)  But  in  the  winter  of  1893,  he  with  an- 
other young  preacher  went  before  the  council.  They  did  not  ask 
father  a  single  question;  said  he  had  already  given  them  perfect 
satisfaction.  They  asked  the  other  preacher,  Rev.  R.  C.  Jack- 
son, how  he  would  prove  to  an  infidel  there  was  a  God.  He 
answered  that,  then  they  knelt,  and  the  council  laid  hands  on 
them  and  prayed,  gave  them  their  credentials,  and  they  were 
given  churches.  They  set  to  work  in  the  pastoral  care  of  churches, 
and  in  summer  did  revival  work  together.  They  had  some 
real  revivals  together,  in  which  scores  of  souls  were  converted. 
Nothing  afforded  me  more  pleasure  than  to  go  with  my  father 
to  his  appointments,  and  to  every  conference  and  convention. 
He  warned  his  members  against  lukewarmness.  He  always 
preached  a  high  standard  of  religion;  believed  people  ought  to 
live  where  they  could  testify,  or  "  tell  their  experience  "  is  what 
he  called  it  then.  He  thought  converted  folks  should  pray  in 
public,  talk  for  Jesus,  and  be  near  enough  to  God  to  praise  Him. 
He  was  a  teetotaler,  straight;  and  preached  against  dram-drink- 
ing, pride  of  all  kinds,  and  would  surely  turn  a  member  out  for 
cursing  or  dancing.  I  believe  he  was  as  free  from  pride  as  any- 
one; always  dressed  very  plain;  never  wore  a  tie  since  his  wed- 
ding day. 

He  believed  in  the  Bible  standard  of  dress,  for  comfort  and 
not  for  show.  He  would  exhort  his  members  to  higher  living, 
family  altars,  and  would  try  so  hard  to  get  men  and  women  to 
talk  for  Jesus  in  meetings,  but  never  did  he  get  them  at  it  much 
until  he  was  sanctified. 

The  subject  of  Christian  perfection  was  talked  among  our 
preachers  some,  but  only  one  ever  preached  it  along  then;  that 
was  Rev.  Wm.  Byrd.  He  stood  to  it  we  could  be  made  perfect 
in  love  in  this  life.  Father  with  all  the  other  preachers  thought 
we  must  sin  a  little,  but  that  we  had  an  Advocate  with  the  Father, 
Jesus  Christ.  In  the  winter  of  1894,  Dr.  Rowland,  the  same  doc- 
tor referred  to  in  the  beginning  of  this  sketch,  who  had  been 
living  in  Bladen  county,  practising,  had  moved  back  to  Benson 
and  began  his  practice  among  his  old  friends.    He  and  his  wife 


IS 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


came  to  spend  the  night  at  our  house.  The  doctor  seemed  so  dif- 
ferent, changed,  his  conversation  was  so  different  now.  He  said 
he  had  met  a  sanctified  preacher  in  Bladen  county  and  that  he 
shouted,  cried,  laughed,  jumped,  and  said,  "  Hallelujah  to  God, 
praise  the  Lord,  glory  to  Jesus,*'  all  the  time  and  that  he  was 
the  happiest  man  he  ever  saw;  said  Crumpler,  "the  sanctified 
preacher/'  had  knocked  every  bit  of  the  predestination  out  of 
him.  He  had  been  to  the  altar  in  Crumpler  s  meeting  seeking 
salvation.  He  said  that  this  fellow  preached  that  the  blood 
cleanseth  from  all  sin  and  it  was  our  privilege  to  live  so  close 
to  the  Lord  we  would  not  have  time  nor  want  to  sin  —  couldn't 
sin  for  praising  God.  The  doctor  told  us  to  be  sure  and  go  hear 
Crumpler  if  he  ever  came  near  us.  We  did  not  have  the  faintest 
idea  of  ever  hearing  him,  but  the  doctor's  talk  of  the  sanctified 
folks  and  the  preacher,  the  great  meeting  he  had  attended,  and 
the  marked  change  in  the  doctor  himself,  put  us  to  thinking  on 
the  subject  of  heart  purity. 

The  summer  following,  Rev.  R.  C.  Jackson  and  my  father 
held  two  meetings  together.  Father  preached  at  Lee's  school 
house,  and  Brother  Jackson  at  Pleasant  Grove,  only  about  three 
miles  apart.  They  arranged  to  preach  at  Pleasant  Grove  in  the 
morning  and  at  father's  appointment  in  the  evening;  they  had 
good  meetings  at  both  places;  they  closed  and  baptized  in  the 
same  pond  together.  Father  would  immerse  one  candidate  and 
Jackson  one  until  all  was  done,  then  they  went  back  to  the  school 
house  and  organized  a  church  with  about  twenty  members.  The 
next  summer,  1895,  they  had  a  meeting  at  this  same  Lee's 
school  house,  which  resulted  in  the  conversion  of  four  people 
over  sixty  years  old.  It  was  striking  to  see  these  old,  gray- 
headed  people  baptized  that  cold  September  morning!  I  never 
will  forget  the  scene;  the  water  was  cold.  It  was  a  river  in  a 
shady  place  and  one  of  the  coldest  September  mornings  I  ever 
remember.  The  candidates  were  chilly,  and  one  man  was  so 
chilled  or  excited  that  he  ran  down  the  river  and  dipped  him- 
self several  times,  like  I  have  seen  geese  do.  A  girl  tied  her 
handkerchief  across  her  mouth  and  tied  it  to  the  back  of  her 
head  in  a  tight  knot  to  prevent  strangling,  and  when  she  arose 
from  the  water  with  the  headgear  about  to  smother  her,  it  was  ex- 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


19 


citing  to  see  her  frantic  efforts  to  release  herself.  I  can  almost 
see  the  crowd  now,  the  candidates  and  father  in  the  river.  One 
of  the  old  men  that  was  baptized  that  day  died  suddenly  in  three 
weeks.  Father  received  him  into  the  church,  baptized  him,  ad- 
ministered the  sacrament  to  him,  washed  his  feet  and  preached 
his  funeral  all  in  three  weeks. 

This  was  in  the  summer  and  fall  of  1895.   In  May,  1896,  that 
sanctified  man,  A.  B.  Crumpler,  came  to  Dunn,  N.  C,  in  seven 
miles  of  our  home,  and  pitched  a  tent  and  began  a  meeting. 
News  went  out  all  over  the  country  that  there  was  a  sanctified 
meeting  and  band  of  workers  at  Dunn.    Some  said  the  preacher 
had  powder  and  scattered  on  the  folks  and  that  they  fell  like 
dead  men  and  lay  for  hours.   They  fell,  it  was  true,  but  it  was 
by  the  mighty  powef  of  God.    Oh!  that  Dunn  meeting;  never 
will  be  forgotten.    Never  was  one  like  it  before,  nor  hasn't 
been  since  in  this  country.    Brother  Crumpler  brought  several 
workers  with  him,  men  and  women  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost. 
They  could  sing,  shout,  preach,  or  pray  —  the  whole  band,  girls 
and  boys,  men  and  women.    They  soon  had  the  town  and  sur- 
rounding country  in  a  stir.    Brother  Crumpler  could  be  heard 
preaching  on  a  still  night  fully  two  miles,  and  the  Lord  was 
on  him  so  the  people  could  not  stand  it.    They  screamed  and 
prayed  all  over  town,  all  up  and  down  the  road  and  all  around 
the  whole  country.    I  think  there  were  said  to  be  at  least  three 
hundred  professions,  twelve  of  which  made  preachers.    I  will 
never  praise  God  enough  for  Brother  Crumpler.    Oh!  thank  the 
dear  Lord  for  ever  sending  him  to  Dunn  to  bring  the  glad  news 
that  we  can  be  free  from  inbred  sin,  and  filled  with  the  Holy 
Ghost.    Glory  to  God! 

The  influence  of  that  meeting  will  never  die.  My  father 
went  one  time.  We  had  heard  so  much  scandal  about  the  meet- 
ing till  father  thought  he  would  prove  it,  so  he  went  under  the 
tent,  stopped  away  back,  but  said  -he  felt  the  power  of  God 
under  .that  old  canvas,  said  had  he  gone  close  up  he  would  have 
been  the  man  to  have  hollered.  The  preacher's  subject  was 
shouting.  He  went  from  one  side  of  the  Bible  to  the  other 
proving  it  was  a  duty,  privilege  and  even  a  real  command  to 
clap  your  hands  and  praise  God.    Father  came  home  and  said: 


20 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


"  There's  something  in  that  meeting.''  Nearly  all  the  preachers 
in  our  conference  got  into  the  experience  of  full  salvation  that 
year,  in  that  meeting  or  through  its  influence.  Oh,  how  the 
doctrine  spread!  Two  of  our  preachers  fought  the  doctrine  and 
refused  to  seek  the  blessing,  and  said  hard  things  about  some  of 
the  holiness  people.  They  were  turned  out  of  the  conference, 
and  one  of  them  since  this  has  been  reclaimed  and  is  in  sympathy 
with  the  doctrine  and  helps  support  it  and  loves  the  cause;  but 
the  other  —  sad  to  say  —  is  in  sin  today,  or  was  the  last  I  heard 
from  him.    It  is  awful  to  fight  against  God. 

HIS  SANCTIFICATION. 

My  father  came  home  from  the  Dunn  meeting  and  was  taken 
with  the  most  malignant  case  of  inflammatory  rheumatism  I  ever 
saw.  He  lay  for  nine  weeks,  and  suffered  the  most  excruciating 
pain.  He  could  not  sleep  more  than  two  hours  in  twenty-four. 
He  thought  he  was  going  to  die,  and  examined  his  past  life  as 
none  other  but  a  dying  man  can.  He  was  willing  to  meet  God 
on  the  doctrine  he  had  preached,  the  example  he  had  set  before 
the  people,  and  all  that;  but  said  he  was  not  fully  resigned  to 
God's  will.  He  had  prayed,  "  Thy  will  be  done,''  hundreds  of 
times,  but  said  from  the  heart  he  was  not  willing  to  see  his  wife 
or  children  die,  had  God  seen  proper  to  take  them,  and  say,  "  Thy 
will,  O  God,  and  not  mine." 

But  while  here  in  this  torture  of  pain,  his  hands  so  drawn 
with  the  disease  that  he  couldn't  feed  himself,  his  feet  so  stiff 
and  swollen  he  was  almost  helpless  for  weeks,  he  consecrated 
his  whole  life,  wife,  children,  houses,  land,  and  everything  he 
had,  all  he  was  or  ever  expected  to  be  or  have,  to  God,  and  gave 
up.  The  blessing  came.  It  was  on  Sunday  evening,  and  he  wept 
so  and  did  so  strangely  to  us  we  thought  he  was  going  to  die; 
and  he  did  die  to  the  world  and  its  applause,  to  public  sentiment 
and  men's  opinions.  He  lay  there,  sang  and  praised  God,  and 
was  so  happy.  While  he  was  still  ill,  some  of  his  friends  that 
had  been  sanctified  in  the  Dunn  meeting  in  May  came  to  see 
him.  They  talked  of  their  spiritual  uplift,  and  told  of  many 
others  that  had  been  pardoned  or  cleansed  during  the  meeting. 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


21 


He  seemed  so  strengthened  by  Christians'  prayers  and  songs, 
and  would  get  so  happy,  and  still  be  suffering  so  much.  During 
his  sickness  the  two  eldest  boys  disobeyed  him  and  ran  away  to 
a  pond  bathing.  They  were  too  small  to  go  by  themselves  or  to 
be  trying  to  swim  without  an  older  person  to  look  after  them. 
Father  was  far  too  sick  to  whip  them,  so  he  called  them  to  the 
bed  and  gave  them  a  very  serious  talk,  had  them  kneel  close  to 
him  by  the  bed,  and  I  never  heard  such  a  prayer  as  he  prayed 
for  those  disobedient  boys.  They  were  heartbroken  over  their 
disobedience,  and  did  not  require  punishment  any  more  soon. 
They  wept  much  worse  than  had  he  whipped  them. 

About  this  time  it  was  announced  that  the  sanctified  folks 
were  coming  to  our  house  on  July  8,  1896,  Wednesday  night,  to 
have  a  prayer  meeting.  It  was  pretty  well  known,  and  that  night 
the  people  poured  in  from  every  direction  until  the  place  was  full 
of  people.  The  meeting  was  conducted  by  a  young  man  that  had 
been  sanctified  only  a  few  weeks.  Several  other  sanctified  peo- 
ple came.  They  had  a  testimony  meeting.  Father  lay  and  wit- 
nessed for  Jesus,  and  they  called  on  me  to  speak,  but  I  had  never 
been  in  one  of  these  meetings,  and  a  timid  girl  of  only  fifteen.  I 
had  been  converted.  This  I  simply  acknowledged  and  kept  my 
seat,  waiting  to  see  the  result  of  a  sanctified  meeting.  Only  a 
few  spoke  beside  the  sanctified  ones.  The  young  man  in  charge 
of  the  meeting  preached  in  might  and  power.  The  people  wept, 
an  altar  call  was  made,  and  almost  all  those  present  were  peni- 
tents. I  felt  I  needed  something  in  my  life  and  heart  I  did  not 
have.  My  heart  ached,  and  the  long-pent-up  tears  now  flowed 
freely.  I  longed  to  be  happy  like  those  sanctified  ones.  Most 
of  the  penitents  were  praying  aloud  for  God  to  bless  them,  and 
soon  I  went  to  praying  aloud  for  a  clean  heart.  I  did  not  get 
the  blessing  that  night,  and  don't  think  anyone  else  did,  but  all 
seemed  convicted  and  longing  for  God  to  forgive  or  sanctify 
them.  The  next  day  I  prayed  all  day.  That  night  the  same 
crowd  with  a  number  of  others,  were  to  hold  prayer  meeting  at 
a  neighbor  s  house  about  three  miles  from  home.  My  brother 
and  I  went,  and  it  was  a  sight  to  see  the  people.  By  dark  they 
began  coming  for  miles  around,  and  I  believe  there  were  a  hun- 
dred or  over  at  a  cottage  prayer  meeting  on  Thursday  night.  It 


22 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


was  work  time,  and  farmers  were  very  busy  trying  to  get  through 
crops,  but  everybody  seemed  to  be  anxious  to  get  to  these  meet- 
ings. 

This  one  was  conducted  as  I  have  never  seen  one  before  nor 
since.  They  had  a  testimony  meeting,  and  when  all  got  through, 
one  brother  preached  about  an  hour  at  the  fireplace.  He  stopped, 
and  another  put  in  at  the  hall  door,  facing  the  first  speaker  and 
a  room  full  in  front  of  him.  People  in  the  porch  and  hall  —  the 
place  filled  up.  My,  my,  they  were  there!  The  last  preacher 
having  ended  his  sermon,  an  altar  service  began  that  lasted  for 
four  hours.  I  don't  remember  who  else  went  to  the  altar,  got 
blessed,  who  prayed,  nor  much  else  but  the  struggle  of  my  own 
poor  heart.  As  soon  as  the  call  for  seekers  was  made  I  rushed 
to  the  altar  and  covered  my  face,  wept  and  prayed  awhile.  My 
heart  got  heavier  and  heavier,  and  I  felt  like  I  would  almost  die. 
I  began  to  pray  as.  loud  as  I  could.  Several  others  were  con- 
fessing out  as  well  as  myself,  and  some  of  the  sanctified  ones 
were  praying  for  us  and  telling  us  how  to  get  the  blessing.  I 
consecrated  my  all,  gave  up  my  pride,  myself,  my  worldly  as- 
sociates and  all  to  Jesus;  told  Him  to  use  me  from  that  moment 
for  Himself.  I  have  never  been  more  hungry  for  food  nor 
more  thirsty  for  water  than  I  was  for  full  salvation  that  night, 
jesus  said  if  we  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness  we  shall  be 
filled,  and  He  did  so  sweetly  fill  my  soul  that  night.  The  bless- 
ing came.  Oh,  it  came  over  my  soul  like  a  wave,  and  changed 
all  my  darkness  to  light,  and  I  was  so  happy  I  could  not  keep 
still.  I  cannot  tell  what  I  did,  and  have  never  heard  anyone  say, 
and  I  surely  don't  know.  I  lost  myself  and  found  Jesus.  I 
praised  the  Lord  awhile,  then  I  found  one  of  my  friends  down 
sobbing.  She  seemed  to  be  in  great  agony  of  soul  as  I  knelt  beside 
her  and  offered  my  first  audible  prayer  for  another. 

The  next  morning  when  I  got  home,  my  mother  asked  me  if  1 
got  sanctified  at  the  prayer  meeting  that  night.  I  very  solemnly 
replied  that  I  received  something  I  had  never  had  before.  Mother 
was  not  sanctified,  and  did  not  know  just  what  to  think  of  the 
holiness  people,  but  never  said  a  word  against  it.  She  thought 
she  had  it,  but  was  shown  differently  later  on.  On  entering  my 
father's  room  that  morning  he  asked  me  the  same  question  my 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


23 


mother  had.  I  answered  him  in  the  same  manner.  He  further 
inquired  if  I  shouted.   I  told  him  I  did  not  know  what  I  did. 

Father  remarked  to  mother  that  he  would  try  me,  and  if  I 
was  sanctified  I  would  pray  at  family  services  at  home.  She  told 
him  she  was  confident  that  I  would.  So  he  asked  me  if  I  would 
pray  every  third  night.  I  told  him  I  would  do  the  best  I  could. 
The  children  soon  found  out  that  I  was  sanctified,  and  concluded 
they  would  try  me.  I  was  sitting  at  the  table,  head  bowed  for- 
ward, leaning  on  the  table  praying,  but  not  audibly,  when  my  lit- 
tle brother  about  nine  years  old  pelted  me  in  the  back,  and  he 
struck  me  pretty  hard.  I  had  usually  been  flogging  them  for 
similar  offences,  but  now  I  felt  no  anger  at  all  in  my  heart,  and 
did  not  say  a  word  to  him.  A  minute  passed  and  the  astonished 
boy  felt  quite  disappointed  at  not  getting  a  beating.  He  walked 
off  and  said,  "  She's  sure  got  it,  or  I  would  have  got  a  whipping." 

Things  that  worried  me  and  got  me  all  wrong  after  my  con- 
version, now  did  not  trouble  me  at  all.  I  read  my  Bible  every 
day  and  prayed  much;  as  father  used  to  say,  my  breath  was  sea- 
soned with  prayer.  I  was  so  happy  all  the  time.  I  would  look 
towards  heaven  many  times  a  day  and  say,  "  Bless  the  Lord,  O 
my  soul,  and  forget  not  all  His  benefits." 

I  received  a  letter  from  a  lady  friend  of  mine  a  few  days  be- 
fore I  was  sanctified,  inviting  father  and  me  to  their  meeting, 
father  to  aid  in  the  revival  and  I  to  have  a  good  time  visiting 
around  and  going  to  church.  But  before  the  meeting  came  I 
got  the  blessing  of  heart  purity.  Father  was  still  on  the  bed, 
unable  to  walk,  so  he  could  not  go.  One  of  my  cousins  was  pas- 
tor of  this  church.  It  was  about  twelve  miles  from  home,  and  I 
went  with  him,  not  to  have  a  good  time  visiting  friends,  but  to 
win  souls  for  Jesus  —  a  mission  I  had  never  dreamed  of  before. 
The  morning  came  for  me  to  start,  and  I  had  a  large  valise, 
packed  it  up  and  took  it  in  hand,  bade  the  family  goodby,  and 
was  soon  out  of  sight  up  the  road.  I  was  met  by  the  preacher 
at  the  village,  one  mile  away,  ready  to  take  me  to  the  meeting. 
My  mother  said  she  felt  very  strange  as  she  saw  her  fifteen-year 
old  daughter  walk  in  that  morning  to  "  try  and  get  folks  saved." 
The  meeting  was  not  a  great  sucess  —  only  one  conversion  that 
I  remember,  but  my  prayers  and  testimonies  stirred  the  people 


24 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


up  and  put  them  to  reading  their  Bibles.  I  found  no  little  oppo- 
sition at  the  start.  The  preacher  himself  did  not  believe  in  the 
doctrine,  but  said  I  was  called  to  preach,  and  would  ask  me  to 
talk  and  pray  and  help  in  the  meeting.  The  more  persecution 
I  got,  the  happier  I  felt;  nothing  hindered  me,  for  I  held  fast 
to  God.  My  opposers  would  tell  that  I  had  lost  my  mind,  and 
reported  once  that  I  was  in  the  asylum;  but  none  of  these  things 
moved  me. 

I  stayed  at  this  meeting  a  few  days  and  came  back  home,  and 
I  had  not  been  home  long  before  mother  had  something  to  tell 
me.  She  said  one  night  that  week,  after  family  prayer,  she  sat 
down  to  rub  father's  hands,  for  they  were  still  drawn  and  stiff. 
She  said  God  began  to  reveal  her  heart  to  her.  She  began  to 
cry  and  throw  up  her  hands,  and  commenced  praying  in  a  very 
agonizing  tone,  and  she  quoted  James  1:27,  "Pure  religion  and 
undefiled  before  God  and  the  Father  is  this,  to  visit  the  father- 
less and  widows  in  their  affliction,  and  to  keep  himself  unspotted 
from  the  world."  She  had  been  a  praying,  shouting  Christian 
for  years.  No  one  doubted  her  piety  that  knew  her,  but  she  said 
there  was  one  spot  on  her  garment.  A  year  or  two  previous  to 
this  a  neighbor  of  ours  had  a  gang  of  little  pigs  that  rooted  up 
around  the  kitchen  door,  and  were  quite  a  nuisance.  She  ran 
them  out  time  and  again  until  at  last  she  picked  up  a  piece  of 
an  old  yard  broom  and  brushed  at  one  and  broke  him  down.  He 
went  off  dragging  by  his  fore  feet.  Mother  was  very  sorry  for 
it,  and  said  she  was  willing  to  pay  for  the  pig,  but  was  perfectly 
ashamed  for  anyone  to  know  she  did  such  a  thing.  The  pig 
was  not  worth  fifty  cents.  It  went  on,  and  the  pig  had  not 
troubled  her  until  that  night,  and  she  said  it  rose  like  a  black 
mountain  before  her.  It  was  the  spot  in  her  garment.  "A  crip- 
pled pig  "  —  and  she  said  she  would  die  before  day  if  she  could 
not  see  the  owner  and  confess  it.  Father  was  sick,  brother  and 
I  were  gone,  and  there  was  no  one  to  send  but  my  little  sister 
and  her  schoolmate,  who  was  spending  the  night  there.  The 
children  were  safe  in  bed,  and  the  night  was  dark  and  rainy.  It 
was  nearly  half  a  mile  up  the  road  to  the  man's  house,  and  one 
had  to  go  by  the  graveyard.  But  these  scared  children  must  go, 
for  it  would  never  do  to  let  mother  die  for  lack  of  seeing  that 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


25 


man.  So  they  went,  and  the  man  came,  much  puzzled  to  know 
the  trouble.  He  came  in,  and  she  poured  the  whole  story  out  to 
him  and  begged  his  forgiveness,  which  he  was  only  too  glad  to 
grant.  He  said  he  cared  nothing  at  all  about  the  pig.  The  con- 
fession and  consecration  was  complete,  and  the  blessing  came 
and  mother  was  happy.  Father  said  he  never  heard  such  a  vivid 
description  of  heaven  in  his  life,  for  she  rejoiced  all  night. 

Father  was  taken  worse  before  day,  and  came  near  dying,  but 
nothing  molested  this  newly  sanctified  soul.  Father  soon  began 
to  recover  from  this  attack,  and  was  soon  so  he  could  walk  around 
a  little.  How  good  it  did  seem  to  see  him  out  again.  He  was 
taken  in  May,  and  now  it  was  the  last  of  July.  Our  meeting  at 
Hodges  Chapel  began  the  fourth  Sunday  night  in  July.  Father 
was  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  faith,  and  had  given  up  his  to- 
bacco, after  being  an  habitual  slave  to  its  use  for  thirty  years. 
We  all  three  had  been  sanctified,  and  were  so  glad  our  meeting 
was  coming  on. 

We  were  expecting  great  things  from  God,  and  were  not  dis- 
appointed, though  our  preacher  at  this  time  fought  the  doctrine 
with  all  his  power.  He  came  to  the  meeting,  and  preached  in  a 
very  sour,  fighting,  bitter  way.  Nobody  seemed  built  up;  no  one 
saved;  and  we  sanctified  folks  poured' it  on  him  and  prayed  for 
his  sanctification,  but  he  abused  us.  He  said  I  made  him  feel  like 
he  was  not  fit  to  preach.  The  sanctified  folks  soon  made  it  too  hot 
for  him,  and  he  got  mad  and  left  the  meeting,  saying  that  we  had 
taken  it  away  from  him;  but  God  was  there. 

Father  could  only  stand  on  his  feet  to  preach  a  very  short 
time,  from  ten  to  twenty  minutes;  but  the  power  of  God  was  on 
him.  The  time  was  spent  in  warning  sinners  of  their  danger  and 
telling  believers  of  their  great  privilege  in  Jesus;  that  the  Lord 
could  sanctify  us  wholly  and  preserve  us  blameless  until  His 
coming.  Glory  to  God.  (1  Thes.  5:23.)  It  took  only  a  few 
words  to  melt  the  crowd;  for  his  pitiful  looks  and  Holy  Ghost 
pleadings  burned  in  people's  hearts.  They  came  to  the  altar  by 
scores,  until  it  was  full,  then  knelt  or  fell  in  the  aisle,  scream- 
ing and  pleading  with  God  for  their  salvation.  Some  would  fall 
and  lie  prostrate  for'  hours.  I  have  seen  a  dozen  fall  in  one  ser- 
vice; some  would  be  cold  and  look  like  dead  men;  strong  men 


26 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


and  boys,  as  well  as  women  and  girls.  Some  would  see  visions, 
while  others  were  prostrate  and  under  conviction,  and  still  others 
would  fall,  some  in  the  yard,  some  on  benches  and  a  large  number 
on  the  floor.  All  the  way  you  could  discover  life  at  all  in  some 
was  by  their  pulse  and  heart.  It  was  a  sight  to  behold,  and  folks 
came  for  miles  just  to  see  what  was  going  on.  Such  reports  as  the 
enemy  of  souls  did  circulate!  I  have  seen  them  cry  and  pray 
until  victory  came,  and  then  laugh  for  an  hour  without  stopping. 
This  holy  laugh  was  what  our  pastor  despised  so  bad,  and  now 
he  confessed  that  he  wanted  it.  A  large  number  joined  the  church, 
and  there  were  about  seventy  professions  in  this  meeting. 

This  unsanctified  pastor  came  again  at  his  next  appointment 
and  gave  the  whole  thing  a  black  eye.  Oh,  he  belabored  us;  but 
we  sang,  shouted,  and  prayed  for  him  to  get  the  blessing.  Thank 
God,  our  prayers  were  at  last  answered  in  a  meeting  father  and 
I  were  holding  some  time  after  this.  The  preacher  came  to  the 
altar  after  the  blessing  he  had  abused  so  much,  and  the  Lord  did 
pour  His  power  upon  him,  and  made  him  laugh  himself  nearly 
down.  He  laughed  until  he  was  so  weak  father  told  him  to  stop. 
He  knew  he  could  not;  but  he  laughed  right  on,  and  seemingly 
it  pleased  the  Lord  to  give  it  to  him  this  way  because  he  hated 
it  so  bad.  We  were  so  glad,  for  he  had  a  good  influence,  and 
did  lots  of  good,  leading  many  people  into  the  experience  after 
this.  The  first  year  of  our  sanctified  life  was  one  of  great  victory. 

Father  was  pastor  of  a  church  in  Cumberland  county,  over 
Cape  Fear  River.  In  September,  1896,  we  began  a  meeting  at 
this  place.  Father  was  still  very  feeble,  and  went  on  crutches, 
and  could  not  stand  but  a  short  time  to  preach.  There  were  a 
few  holiness  people  there  that  had  been  sanctified  in  May  at 
Dunn.  We  began  to  preach,  testify,  sing  and  shout,  pray  in 
every  home  we  entered,  talk  salvation  to  everybody  we  met,  and 
in  a  day  or  two  the  whole  neighborhood  was  aroused.  They 
came  from  all  directions.  The  church  was  very  large,  but  there 
were  so  many  people  we  had  to  preach  out  doors  part  of  the  time. 
Reverends  Byrd  and  R.  C.  Jackson  came  before  the  meeting 
closed,  and  rendered  valuable  service.  Some  became  so  convicted 
they  prayed  all  night  long.  They  lay  in  trances,  some  on  the 
floor  until  nearly  daybreak,  their  whole  bodies  perfectly  rigid. 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS  27 

I  have  seen  from  five  to  fifteen  prostrate  at  one  time  in  this 
meeting.  Some  had  visions  of  heaven  and  saw  their  loved  ones 
there.  And  it  was  all  classes  —  well-bred,  high  to-  ed  college  boys 
and  hard-working  people  all  got  blessed  alike.  The  meeting 
lasted  sixteen  days,  and  before  its  close  one  of  the  deacons  got 
convicted,  spent  a  sleepless  night,  arose  before  day,  went  where 
father  was  stopping,  and  confessed  that  he  had  lived  in  the 
church  forty  years  without  religion.  He  said  he  never  had  been 
converted,  and  had  stilled  liquor,  and  he  a  deacon  of  the  church! 
He  was  in  awful  agony.  He  prayed,  and  father  prayed  for  him 
till  the  victory  came.  It  was  about  sunrise  when  the  burden 
was  rolled  away.  He  came  to  the  church  that  day,  and  he  was 
so  happy.  He  confessed  his  life,  and  preached  a  real  sermon,  tell- 
ing how  he  had  suffered  under  conviction,  and  how  wonderfully 
the  Lord  had  blessed  him.  He  had  a  good  influence,  and  lived 
a  saintly  life  for  six  years,  and  died  telling  those  around  him  he 
was  going  to  be  with  Jesus.  This  meeting  closed  with  seventy- 
five  professions,  some  of  whom  are  still  on  the  way  to  glory. 

In  October  following,  father  and  I  began  a  meeting  in  Harnett 
county  at  a  «choolhouse.  There  were  not  any  holiness  people  at 
all  around  there,  and  few  Christians  at  all;  most  of  the  people 
were  backslidden  that  ever  had  been  converted;  not  one  would 
pray  in  public  or  testify.  Only  a  few  invited  us  home  with  them 
at  first;  some  were  afraid  of  us,  some  were  afraid  to  take  our 
hands  or  come  near  us;  afraid  we  had  powders  to  put  on  them 
and  put  them  in  trances.  Oh,  how  the  devil  will  delude  people! 
But  they  would  come  in  throngs  to  the  meeting.  Father  preached 
and  we  sang,  testified  and  exhorted,  from  Sunday  night  until 
Tuesday  night,  with  no  visible  results.  Tuesday  night  at  the 
close  of  the  sermon,  there  came  a  man  to  the  altar.  He  looked 
to  be  about  fifty  years  old,  an  honest,  plain  old  farmer.  This 
seemed  to  affect  the  people,  for  the  man  was  so  broken  up  and 
wept  so  pitifully  they  all  knew  he  was  deeply  convicted.  Then 
a  warm  revival  tide  began  to  rise  that  night.  It  rose  higher  and 
higher  until  Friday  night.  I  never  saw  such  a  time  in  my  life. 
A  school  teacher  arose  at  the  close  of  the  sermon  that  night 
and  asked  permission  to  speak,  which  was  readily  granted.  He 
began  to  cry,  his  whole  frame  trembling  with  emotion.   He  said, 


28 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


"All  I  have  ever  taught  here,  I  am  now  ready  to  pray  for;  come, 
let  me  pray  for  all  of  you."  He  had  been  teaching  there  for 
years,  and  some  of  his  old  scholars  were  men  and  women  with 
families.  They  began  to  scream  and  cry  as  if  something  awful 
had  happened;  they  ran  over  each  other  getting  to  the  altar, 
and  for  fully  two  hours  people  wrung  their  hands  and  confessed  to 
God.  I  cannot  give  any  idea  how  many  received  pardon  or 
cleansing  that  memorable  Friday  night.  In  one  family  well  re- 
membered, there  were  three  brothers,  all  grown  young  men,  and 
the  oldest  married.  This  eldest  boy  was  among  the  number  at 
the  altar  on  Friday  night.  He  was  deeply  touched,  went  home 
and  slept  but  little.  Next  morning  about  day  he  gave  up  his 
struggles  and  trusted  Jesus.  The  Holy  Ghost  came  upon  him, 
and  he  wept,  laughed,  and  did  many  things  strange  to  his  fam- 
ily. His  wife  did  not  understand  him.  He  had  been  a  devoted 
church  member  for  years,  and  was  a  college-bred,  high-toned 
young  man.  His  brother  thought  he  was  ruined,  and  told  his 
mother  that  his  brother  had  surely  gone  crazy:  that  he  hid 
acted  foolishly  and  strangely  since  Friday  night,  and  as  for  him, 
he  was  done  with  that  mess  at  the  schoolhouse,  and  was  not  going 
there  any  more.  He  was  also  a  church  member,  and  was  very 
intelligent,  had  a  good  position  as  a  school  teacher,  and  was  some- 
what diseased  with  egotism.  But  he  concluded  he  wanted  to  be 
sure  about  this  doctrine.  He  found  his  Bible  after  a  long  search, 
took  an  ax,  and  went  off  as  if  to  cut  wood.  He  took  the  Bible 
in  his  hand,  and  thus  began  to  pray:  "  Lord,  if  there  is  such  an 
experience  as  sanctification,  let  my  Bible  open  to  a  chapter  that 
will  make  it  plain  to  me.v  The  Bible  opened  at  Hebrews,  10th 
chapter,  which  is  full  of  sanctification.  He  shut  the  Bible  after 
reading  that  chapter,  and  said,  "  Lord,  I  believe  it,  and  righi 
now  I  want  it."  He  wrestled  alone  with  God  until  the  blessing 
came,  and  then  went  shouting,  jumping  and  clapping  his  hands 
to  the  house.  His  mother  said,  "What's  the  matter?  Have  you 
cut  your  foot?  "  He  shouted  almost  all  day.  I  never  saw  a 
happier  young  man  in  my  life.  He  went  back  to  the  "  mess  "  at 
the  schoolhouse,  as  he  called  it,  with  a  message  for  church  mem- 
bers and  holiness  fighters.  His  youngest  brother  started  to  a 
corn  shucking,  and  got  so  convicted  he  fell  in  a  fence  jamb  and  lay 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


29 


there  until  he  made  the  surrender.  Jesus  did  the  cleansing.  He 
got  up  and  went  on  praising  God. 

One  wicked  fellow  got  converted  in  the  field  pulling  corn, 
came  to  the  meeting  that  night,  began  to  tell  how  God  had  saved 
him.  He  said,  "  Everybody  that  I  have  led  in  the  ballroom  or 
called  figures  for  you  to  dance,  come  here  and  lei  me  pray  tor 
you."  The  scene  that  followed  is  indescribable;  old  and  young 
came  weeping  for  him  to  pray  for  them.  Another  young  fellow 
was  converted  while  on  the  way  to  meeting,  and  was  heard  shout- 
ing half  a  mile  while  the  people  were  gathering  there.  They  lav 
in  trances  at  this  place,  some  nearly  all  day,  and  others  almost 
all  night.  Their  shouts  and  testimonies  were  heartrending.  One 
wicked  drunkard,  an  awful  man,  was  happily  saved,  and  is  still 
on  the  heavenly  road.  He  shouted  all  over  the  crowd  with  hands 
uplifted,  saying,  "  Glory!  Glory!  Jesus  has  saved  a  poor 
drunkard  like  me."  This  meeting  closed  after  fifteen  days  of 
wonderful  victory. 

During  this  meeting  father  laid  aside  his  crutches,  but  was 
still  very  feeble,  for  the  disease  had  left  his  limbs  very  stiff  and 
swollen,  and  his  left  hand  was  perfectly  rigid.  Father  organized 
a  church  at  this  place  with  twenty-four  members.  They  soon 
built  a  nice  church.  Some  have  backslidden,  some  have  died, 
but  there  are  still  some  of  God's  true  ones  around  this  place. 

The  next  summer,  1897,  an  evangelist  came  to  our  little  town 
and  pitched  a  tent  and  began  to  preach  full  salvation.  My 
mother  at  this  time  was  at  the  point  of  death.  The  doctor  asked 
this  preacher  to  go  with  him  and  see  my  mother,  saying,  u  She's 
going  to  die.  and  you  may  be  of  some  comfort  to  her."  The 
preacher  came  with  the  doctor,  and  they  talked  of  God's  power 
to  heal,  and  prayed  with  her,  and  she  began  to  recover.  My 
father's  hand  was  still  rigid.  Dr.  Rowland  and  the  preacher 
together  got  father  and  mother  fully  persuaded  to  be  anointed 
according  to  James  5:14.  Mother  got  able  to  ride  slowly  over 
to  the  tent,  where  she  was  given  a  comfortable  chair,  as  she  was 
very  feeble.  Father  had  bought  the  olive  oil,  and  told  the  drug- 
gist when  it  struck  his  head  in  obedience  to  God's  Word  his 
hand  would  be  healed  and  his  legs  and  other  limbs  restored  to 


30 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


their  normal  condition.    The  druggist  laughed,  as  if  he  doubted 
this  would  be  the  case. 

That  night  the  meeting  opened  up  and  the  people  shouted 
so  the  preacher  did  not  try  to  preach.  He  asked  all  that  wanted 
to  be  anointed  for  healing  to  come  forward.  Father  and  mother 
both  went  and  knelt,  with  eleven  others.  By  the  time  the  oil  was 
applied  father's  hand  went  together.  Closed  it,  yes,  closed  it  — 
for  the  first  time  in  thirteen  months!  His  limbs  were  made  flex- 
ible, and  he  began  to  jump.  He  found  the  druggist  in  the 
crowd,  and  showed  him  his  hand.  He  was  an  astonished  man, 
as  he  had  examined  it  only  a  short  time  before.  It  had  been 
swollen  and  stiff  since  that  dreadful  attack  of  rheumatism  over  a 
year  previous.  Three  doctors  said  had  it  been  forced  together 
it  would  have  broken  the  bone  in  pieces.  Mother  was  also  won- 
derfully healed.  She  leaped  and  praised  God;  found  the  doctor 
and  told  him  that  he  did  all  he  could  for  her,  but  failed  to  cure 
her,  but  Jesus  had  done  it.  Glory!  Glory!  It  was  a  real  mir- 
acle: I  saw  it  and  know  it  is  true.  They  went  home  and  rejoiced 
all  night. 

From  that  night,  July  24,  1897,  they  never  took  another  drop 
of  medicine.  Father  had  scarcely  been  able  to  do  any  man- 
ual labor  since  his  illness  above  named,  and  never  fully  recovered 
until  that  night.  He  walked  on  crutches  for  three  months,  and 
after  he  laid  them  aside  he  was  so  easy  to  stumble,  a  small  stick 
or  cornstalk  would  nearly  throw  him  down.  After  he  was  healed, 
he  would  plow  all  day,  and  said  he  felt  as  good  as  he  did  at 
eighteen  years  of  age.  Mother  went  on  with  her  housework,  even 
washed,  and  she  had  not  been  able  to  draw  water  for  some  time. 
She  seemed  like  a  new  woman.  Father  used  to  send  for  the  doc- 
tor if  one  of  us  was  a  little  sick;  so  excited  over  the  least  sick- 
ness in  his  family.  But  after  this  wonderful  healing,  he  looked 
to  Jesus  only  tor  his  body.  After  this  he  was  sent  for  to  pray 
with  and  anoint  the  sick  for  miles,  and  witnessed  many  real  cases 
of  healing. 

On  July  4,  1S99,  I  was  married  to  a  young  evangelist,  H.  H. 
Goff.  We  traveled  and  held  meetings  about  a  year,  then  came 
home  and  built  on  land  my  father  gave  us.    My  husband  and 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


31 


father  held  meetings  and  anointed  the  sick  together.  Many  peo- 
ple were  saved  and  sanctified  wholly  during  these  meetings. 

In  November,  1899,  father  was  taken  with  a  dreadful  case  of 
typhoid  fever,  but  held  on  to  God.  We  obeyed  James  5th.  but 
he  seemed  to  get  no  better.  If  typhoid  fever  was  to  be  healed 
at  once,  people  would  say  it  was  not  typhoid,  or  they  would  not 
have  gotten  well  so  quick.  But  after  a  long  and  wearisome  spell 
of  several  weeks  of  hot  fever,  which  was  pronounced  to  be  ty- 
phoid by  a  good  physician,  then  the  people  began  to  say,  "  Well, 
there  must  be  something  to  it,  or  he  would  die;  does  not  take  a 
thing,  but  prays,  shouts,  preaches,  and  is  the  happiest  sick  man 
I  ever  saw."  It  was  a  benediction  to  enter  his  room:  the  power 
-  of  God  was  there.  He  fully  recovered  after  much  prayer  and 
simple  faith  in  Jesus.  '  In  June,  1900,  my  husband  and  I  went  to 
New  Bern  and  held  a  glorious  meeting,  and  on  to  Wilmington, 
and  held  one  that  lasted  about  three  weeks.  It  was  a  great  vic- 
tory. Then  we  came  to  Duplin  county,  and  preached  out  there 
in  the  country  ten  days  with  good  results.  At  this  place  I  was 
taken  with  the  fever,  and  came  home  and  took  my  bed  July 
26th,  and  lay  unconscious  for  three  weeks.  I,  my  husband  and 
father  fasted  three  days  for  my  healing,  and  I  was  anointed,  but 
got  no  better,  and  had  nine  awful  hemorrhages.  Mother  sat  by 
me  until  her  strength  failed  her.  They  all  prayed;  I  prayed, 
preached,  talked,  shouted,  and  sang  of  heaven,  gave  directions 
for  my  funeral  —  told  who  should  preach  it,  and  all  about  it. 
Lots  of  hardhearted  ones  that  came  to  see  me  were  touched.  I 
recovered,  to  the  astonishment  of  my  friends,  and  in  about  two 
years  after  this  my  mother  had  the  same  fever.  She  trusted  Jesus 
and  got  well.  Mother  and  brother  were  both  down  at  a  time  in 
the  same  room.  Brother  took  seventeen  different  kinds  of  medi- 
cine. Mother  took  none.  Both  got  up  about  the  same  time. 
Three  of  us  had  typhoid  fever  and  recovered  without  drugs  of 
any  kind. 

Father  still  pastored  churches  all  these  years,  and  held  re- 
vivals in  the  summer  and  fall  season,  and  had  some  grand  old- 
fashioned  meetings.  He  was  a  special  lover  of  music,  and  bought 
different  instruments  for  us  children,  and  we  all  played  together. 
He  so  much  enjoyed  singing  with  the  rest  of  the  family,  and  to 


32 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


have  the  children  play  the  organ,  violin  and  guitar.  He  had 
some  favorite  hymns,  and  he  had  them  played,  while  he  would 
sing  and  clap  his  hands.  Oh,  how  we  miss  that  voice  that  used 
to  add  so  much  to  our  church  and  home  music!  But  he  sings  no 
more  sweet  anthems  of  praise  here,  but  is  singing  now  in  that 
blissful  home  in  heaven. 

HIS  DEATH. 

In  the  fall  of  1903  father  began  to  have  the  most  peculiar 
chills  I  ever  saw.  When  one  would  come  on  him,  he  was  taken 
with  death-like  pains  all  over  his  body.  He  could  be  heard  pray- 
ing for  a  hundred  yards,  and  we  could  not  warm  him  until  the 
fever  came.  We  would  go  to  God  for  him,  and  he  would  be  up 
in  a  little  while,  then  in  a  few  day^  another  chill  would  come 
on  him,  and  he  looked  like  he  would  die.  He  sent  for  the  elders 
of  the  church,  and  they  came  and  anointed  him,  the  chills 
stopped,  and  we  thought  he  was  doing  well,  but  he  soon  began 
to  turn  yellow  all  over,  and  got  so  sick  he  could  not  keep  any- 
thing on  his  stomach.  He  kept  getting  sicker  and  weaker,  but 
kept  up.  He  walked  over  the  farm  to  our  house  on  Thursday, 
to  his  brother's  on  Friday,  and  died  Monday.  Saturday  morn- 
ing he  was  so  sick.  Had  not  eaten  anything  scarcely  for  two 
months.  He  had  fallen  off  until  he  did  not  look  like  himself, 
and  was  in  so  much  pain  he  told  mother  to  send  for  his  pastor, 
a  Holy  Ghost  man,  Brother  H.  W.  Jernigan,  who  came  with  sev- 
eral others  of  his  Christian  friends,  among  whom  was  a  woman 
he  had  anointed  and  seen  miraculously  healed  so  many  times. 
When  she  entered  the  room  and  took  father's  hand,  he  began  to 
cry,  and  told  her  he  was  so  happy.  He  said,  "  There  has  been  a 
wave  of  salvation  over  me  all  day,  and  I  have  seen  Jesus  on  the 
cross.''  The  preacher  came  in,  and  he  burst  into  a  new  flood  of 
tears.  We  all  prayed  for  his  healing.  He  prayed,  and  we  arose 
from  prayer.  Then  he  said,  "  I  am  better,  and  in  no  pain  at  all. 
Now  let's  thank  God  for  easing  me.  Florence,  you  lead  the 
prayer.''  We  all  knelt,  and  I  prayed,  and.  father  sat  on  the  floor 
and  sang  two  songs:  "  I'm  Kneeling  at  the  Mercy  Seat,  Where 
Jesus  Heals  Me  Now,"'  and  "  I  Will  Trust  in  the  Lord  Until  I 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


33 


Die."  No  one  else  could  sing  in  the  room  but  he;  all  were  flood- 
ed with  tears.  I  thought  his  voice  was  sweeter  and  had  more 
heaven  in  it  than  I  ever  heard  in  it  before.  We  had  no  thought 
the  end  was  so  near.  He  looked  so  pitiful ;  the  disease  had  done  its 
deadly  work.  God  saw  His  trusting  child  had  suffered  enough 
pain  and  persecution,  hard  toil,  preaching,  praying  and  warning 
sinners,  and  had  fasted  enough  long  hot  days  for  his  children; 
had  spent  enough  nights  of  prayer;  and  Jesus  was  coming  after 
him,  to  give  him  rest,  peace  and  joy  forever.  Saturday  night 
was  spent  in  agony,  so  much  pain,  for  the  trouble  was  gallstones. 
Physicians  say  they  cause  the  most  excruciating  pain  man  ever 
suffered. 

Sunday  the  church  was  called  to  fast  and  pray  for  him.  He 
was  so  patient;  not  a  murmur,  not  a  complaint  against  God.  He 
said,  "  If  I  have  done  all  I  can  for  lost  souls,  the  Lord  wants  me 
and  I  am  ready  to  go."  He  did  not  pray  to  be  restored  to 
health,  for  himself  or  his  family,  but  only  for  God's  glory;  he 
wanted  God's  will  to  be  done  in  him.  He  said,  "  I  will  trust 
Him  though  He  slay  me." 

There  were  four  of  his  children  nearly  grown,  out  of  Christ, 
three  of  them  having  once  professed  to  love  the  Lord,  and  wan- 
dered off  away  from  Jesus.  This  gave  my  father  so  much  trouble 
to  see  them  so  careless  about  their  souls,  and  he  would  pray  and 
cry,  fast  and  try  to  get  them  saved.  They  would  go  to  the  altar 
and  weep  a  little,  and  go  away  not  saved.  They  had  done  this 
for  several  years.  The  Lord  had  warned  them  in  many  ways, 
and  at  last  laid  their  sainted  father  across  their  path. 

On  Sunday  evening  I  had  been  fasting  and  praying  for  the 
Lord  to  heal  father,  and  took  the  Bible  and  began  to  search  for 
God's  promises  to  heal,  when  something  as  plain  as  an  audible 
voice  said,  "  If  those  children  will  give  up  their  sins  I  will  heal 
him;  if  not,  I  am  going  to  take  him."  Sunday  night  he  was  taken 
worse,  and  looked  like  he  would  go  into  convulsions.  He  prayed 
the  Lord  to  ease  him  or  take  his  breath.  We  all  prayed,  and 
I  told  him  what  had  been  revealed  to  me,  and  mother  said 
she  had  felt  the  same  impression.  Father  said,  "  Call  the 
children  in  and  preach  it  to  them,  Florence."  I  called  them, 
and  they  came  and  knelt  around  his  bed  and  sobbed  for 


34 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


some  time.  Dr.  Rowland  was  there,  and  he  read  and  exhorted 
the  children,  and  prayed  for  them  and  father,  but  they  would  not 
confess  their  sins.  Father's  breath  was  so  short  he  could  not 
speak  but  a  few  words  at  a  time.  He  said,  "  Oh,  how  I  wish  I 
could  talk  to  my  children!"  Everyone  present  seemed  to  be  bur- 
dened with  grief,  and  all  the  Christians  prayed.  It  was  the  sad- 
dest night  I  ever  spent.  I  sat  by  him  all  night.  He  was  thirsty; 
the  cold  sweat  gathered  on  his  forehead.  He  seemed  a  little 
easier  Monday  morning,  but  never  slept  more  than  a  little  doze 
of  maybe  ten  minutes,  then  awoke  with  another  dreadful  pain.  We 
all  watched  the  hours  as  they  passed  away.  Each  told  us  that 
the  time  was  almost  out.  Monday  evening,  about  2  o'clock,  Nov. 
23,  1903,  he  calmly  passed  away.  I  thought  sure  he  had  got  easy 
and  was  going  to  sleep,  and  could  not  tell  when  his  last  breath  was 
gone.  Death  was  a  sweet  relief.  Truly  he  fell  asleep  in  the  arms  of 
Jesus.  He  left  a  heartbroken  wife,  who  had  done  all  loving  hands 
could  do  for  twenty-four  years  for  his  pleasure  and  comfort,  and 
never  was  a  cross  word  spoken  between  them. 

Telegrams  were  sent  to  relatives  and  distant  friends,  and  prep- 
arations were  made  to  lay  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  his  body, 
to  rest.  The  funeral  was  preached  by  Rev.  H.  W.  Jernigan,  using 
as  a  text  Rev.  14:13,  "  Blessed  are  the  dead  which  die  in  the 
Lord  from  henceforth:  Yea,  saith  the  Spirit,  that  they  may  rest 
from  their  labors,  and  their  works  do  follow  them.''  The  funeral 
was  preached  to  the  largest  crowd  I  ever  saw  at  a  burying;  women 
and  children  stood  in  the  aisle,  and  lots  out  of  doors,  all  through 
the  sermon.  An  altar  call  was  made,  and  quite  a  number  bowed 
for  prayer,  among  whom  were  four  of  his  unsaved  children.  Kind 
friends  laid  the  body  to  rest  in  the  church  yard,  to  await  the  com- 
ing of  Jesus. 

My  mother  then  settled  the  estate,  and  the  same  Sunday 
school  boy  referred  to  previously,  who  at  that  time  had  become 
one  of  the  best  lawyers  in  the  State,  was  her  attorney.  He  was  fix- 
ing up  some  letters  for  her  one  day,  and  she  offered  him  the  post- 
age. Tears  rose  in  his  eyes:  he  looked  straight  into  mother's  and 
said,  "  No.  I  would  be  the  last  one  to  charge  you  a  cent.  People 
that  have  done  as  much  for  me  as  you  and  your  husband."  All  that 
good  friends  could  do  in  sympathy  and  prayer  was  done  for  our 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


3  5 


comfort.  The  union  meeting  of  which  father  was  moderator 
rendered  sympathy  through  a  committee,  in  The  Holiness  Ad- 
vocate, all  of  which  we  appreciate. 

"A  precious  one  from  us  is  gone 

A  voice  we  loved  is  stilled; 
A  place  is  vacant  in  our  home, 

That  never  can  be  filled. 
God  in  His  wisdom  has  recalled 

The  boon  His  love  had  given; 
And  though  the  body  moulders  here, 

The  soul  is  safe  in  heaven. 

"Father's  gone,  but  not  forgotten, 

Never  shall  his  memory  fade; 
Sweetest  thoughts  shall  ever  linger 

'Round  the  grave  where  he  is  laid. 
It  was  hard  to  part  with  father; 

Oh,  so  hard  to  see  him  die! 
But  then  we  will  try  to  meet  him 

In  that  heavenly  home  by  and  by." 


NOTE. 

After  the  life  of  my  father  was  published,  the  same  lawyer 
referred  to  as  being  in  father's  Sunday  school  class  read  the  book. 
He  at  that  time  was  a  famous  statesman,  but  never  forgot  his  fa- 
vorite old  friend,  my  father.  Here  is  a  letter  he  sent  me  after 
reading  the  book.  This  noble-hearted  young  statesman  met  his 
death  suddenly  by  a  freight  car  passing  over  his  body,  February 
20,  1909. 

MR.  STEWART'S  LETTER. 

September  2,  1905. 

Mrs.  Florence  Goff, 
Benson,  N.  C. 

Dear  Florence:  I  have  with  a  great  deal  of  interest  just 
completed  the  reading  of  the  book  which  you  have  written  about 
your  father's  work.    In  ail  of  my  readings  and  researches  I  have 


36 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


found  nothing  which  I  have  read  more  eagerly  and  with  more 
profound  interest,  especially  so,  on  account  of  the  sincere  love 
and  admiration  which  I  had  for  the  man,  and  again  for  the  reason 
that  it  was  written  by  you.  Many  times  I  found  use  for  my  hand- 
kerchief. I  could  again  see  his  consecrated  expression  and  hear 
him  in  his  zeal  as  he  pleaded  for  the  young  men,  and  the  family 
and  neighbors  he  loved  so  well.  I  have  thought  for  several 
months,  that  at  some  time  I  would  suggest  to  you  the  very  thing 
which  you  have  done.  I  know  of  no  man  within  my  knowledge, 
whose  life  and  whose  teaching  have  had  a  more  salutary  effect  on 
the  youth. 

So  long  as  I  live  I  shall  always  gratefully  remember  the  kind- 
ness and  interest  which  he  exhibited  for  me  in  my  young  man- 
hood, and  solicitude  for  me  in  my  maturer  years,  although  I  am 
just  thirty  years  old  now.  In  1900,  when  the  people  of  this 
county  wanted  me  to  go  to  the  Legislature,  before  I  would  agree 
to  make  the  fight  for  nomination,  I  went  to  his  house  to  see 
him  and  obtain  counsel  from  him.  I  found  him  north  of  the 
home,  I  think,  plowing.  I  went  to  the  place,  and  while  we  were 
there,  the  eclipse  of  the  sun  came  with  its  luster  and  georgeous- 
ness  on  that  bright  May  morning,  and  the  conversation  then 
between  us  has  still  remained  fragrant  in  my  mind.  We  stood 
and  watched  the  eclipse  coming  on,  and  as  I  recollect  now,  he 
started  to  his  home;  but  then  the  conversation  drifted  to  the  dis- 
cussion of  the  powers  of  God  and  the  infinitessimal  insignificance 
of  us  beings.  We  there,  near  the  fence,  had  a  prayer,  the  last,  I 
think,  I  ever  heard  him  make.  He  went  away,  after  advising  me 
to  accept  this  nomination,  and  after  a  little  discussion  between 
us  to  break  up  the  liquor  holes  then  in  our  community.  Of  course 
you  know  the  result,  and  how  when  the  Legislature  met  I  made 
the  effort;  and  how  the  crowd  tried  to  overawe  me,  and  how  they 
undertook  to  browbeat  me;  and  during  this  time,  I  received  a 
letter  from  him,  in  which  he  said  he  had  been  praying  for  me, 
and  that  God  had  assured  him  that  I  would  do  the  best  for  the 
people  in  our  community,  and  especially  for  the  young  men,  his 
sons  and  my  brothers  and  neighbors.  I  passed  the  bill,  and 
after  my  return  from  Raleigh,  the  first  time  I  met  him,  he  made 
me  feel  better  than  I  had  felt  in  the  whole  two  months  while 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


37 


there,  by  taking  my  hand  and  telling  me  that  all  the  Christian 
people  and  right-thinking  men  were  with  me,  and  success  would 
crown  the  efforts  of  one  who  tried  to  do  the  right.  Thank  God, 
we  have  about  gotten  the  evil  where  the  good  people  can  control 
it,  and  we  will  continue  to  go  further  until  the  thing  is  com- 
pletely stamped  out.  I  should  never  have  gone  to  the  Legisla- 
ture if  he  had  advised  me  against  it,  for  I  had  made  up  my  mind 
to  take  his  advice  about  the  matter  before  I  went  to  see  him.  I 
would  to  God  that  my  own  children  had  the  tutelage  of  such  a 
man.  You  are  eminently  correct  when  you  say  that  the  tempta- 
tion is  much  stronger  and  the  chances  for  wrecking  the  lives  of 
the  young  men  and  women  are  greater  than  ever  before.  This 
is  a  commercial  and  dollar-chasing  age,  and  I  fear  that  even  the 
parents  are  too  neglectful  of  their  children,  not  in  pride  and  dress- 
ing, but  in  heart-training. 

We  in  our  home  have  two  little  children,  both  of  whom  have 
sprung  up  like  two  little  flowers,  and  it  is  needless  for  me  to  say 
that  my  life  so  far  as  the  business  affairs  go  is  based  on  these 
children.  I  know  that  I  cannot  with  my  limited  opportunities 
and  advantages  accomplish  much  in  this  life;  but  I  hope  to  bless 
others  through  them;  but  alas!  how  soon  they  may  be  overtaken. 
Therefore,  I  say,  that  we  are  going  too  far  away  from  the  old 
landmarks  in  these  cities  and  towns.  But  I  am  going  too  far 
from  what  I  intended  to  say.  He  stood  by  me  as  a  father,  and 
more  like  a  guardian  angel  during  my  young  boyhood,  and  shaped 
my  life,  gave  encouragement,  emulation  and  enthusiasm  which 
enabled  me  to  undergo  the  hardships  and  privations  of  poverty 
and  adversity  without  a  murmur,  and  to  strive  to  accomplish 
something  for  myself  and  my  people.  I  shall  always  treasure 
his  memory  until  that  hour  when  I  myself  shall  go  down  into 
the  tongueless  silence  of  a  dreamless  death.  One  thing  which  I 
desire  that  you,  your  mother  and  the  brothers  and  sisters  always 
feel,  and  that  is,  you  have  a  friend  in  me.  I  have  written  these 
few  lines  hurriedly,  and  late  at  night.  It  now  lacks  only  two 
minutes  of  twelve,  and  I  am  tired  and  must  stop. 

My  kindest  regards  to  you,  Brother  Goff  and  the  family. 
Yours  sincerely, 

W.  A.  Stewart. 


SOME  OF  THE  LORDS  DEALINGS 
WITH  US. 

Since  I  wrote  the  first  part  of  this  booklet,  God  has  blessed  us 
in  a  wonderful  way.  Father  died  November  23,  1903.  The  17th 
of  January,  1904,  our  first  boy  was  born.  This  was  the  fourth 
child  in  five  years'  time.  We  had  been  in  debt  ever  since  we 
built  near  my  father's.  That  summer  my  husband  heard  Dr. 
Watson  preach  at  the  Falcon  Camp  Meeting,  on  paying  God  His 
tenth.  In  the  face  of  about  eight  hundred  dollars  debt,  God  laid 
it  on  my  husband  to  begin  an  account  with  God  and  pay  God 
what  he  owed  Him,  and  trust  God  to  help  us  pay  our  debts  to 
man.  My  husband  cleared  land,  preached  most  of  the  time, 
except  when  he  would  close  a  meeting  and  come  home  for  a 
rest,  but,  my  friends,  his  rest  was  clearing  land.  We  burned 
logs  until  eleven  o'clock  at  ^ight.  I  stayed  home  most  of  the 
time,  worked  hard,  lived  cheap,  kept  begging  God  to  help  us  out 
of  debt.  It  became  such  a  burden  until  I  decided  we  could  eat 
our  biscuits  very  well  without  any  lard  in  them,  and  that  would 
save  a  little.  We  had  borrowed  a  little  cow.  She  gave  us  plenty 
of  milk,  and  about  two  ounces  of  butter  per  day.  This  butter 
and  our  biscuit  was  our  breakfast.  A  big  pot  of  cabbage  and 
Irish  potatoes  cooked  with  an  inch  of  bacon,  corn  bread  and 
buttermilk,  was  our  dinner  and  supper.  We  were  healthy,  hearty, 
and  happy  as  larks.  I  felt  like  I  had  the  biggest  office  in  the 
world,  to  be  the  wife  of  a  preacher  that  was  living  a  clean  life, 
preaching  a  full  gospel,  and  winning  men  to  God  by  dozens.  Oh, 
glory,  I  think  so  yet!  How  happy  I  would  be  to  get  a  letter 
from  my  husband  that  read  like  this: 

"  Oh,  glory!  The  fire  is  falling  over  here  in  the  meeting. 
Twenty-five  at  the  altar  last  night.  One  poor  drunkard  saved, 
his  home  made  happy  that  was  once  miserable.  Old  quarrels 
have  been  settled;  men  that  have  not  spoken  for  years  embrace 
each  other,  begging  pardon,  and  weep  like  children.  I  cannot 
tell  when  the  meeting  will  close.   Pray  that  God  will  use  me  much, 


40 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


that  He  will  have  His  way.   God  bless  you  and  the  children.  A 

kiss  for  each  of  you. 

"  Your 

Henry." 

Oh,  I  say  to  myself,  I  am  staying  by  the  stuff,  praying  for 
him;  how  happy  I  feel! 

I  was  so  glad  to  do  hard  work,  relieve  him  of  every  burden  I 
could;  wear  old  clothes,  old  hats,  and  thought  they  were  good 
enough ;  was  happy  as  a  sunbeam.  I  felt  in  some  way  God  would 
get  us  out  of  debt.  We  owed  Bro.  Daly,  of  Kinston,  about  forty 
dollars.  My  husband  and  Brother  Crumpler  were  down  there 
holding  a  meeting  in  a  church  near  Brother  Daly's  old  home. 
One  morning  husband  started  to  write  to  me.  Brother  Daly 
handed  him  his  note  and  said,  "  Send  that  to  your  wife;  tell  her 
to  make  that  payable  to  Rowland  Daly  Goff."  So  that  paid 
a  debt  and  named  the  first  boy.  We  thanked  God  and  took  cour- 
age. We  scattered  the  children  among  our  relatives  in  the  sum- 
mer and  held  some  wonderful  meetings.  Hundreds  were  saved; 
some  backslid,  it  is  true,  but  thank  God,  some  stand  true  yet, 
and  several  have  been  welcomed  into  glory,  left  bright  testi- 
monies that  they  were  going  there. 

We  owe  much  gratitude  to  both  our  mothers,  several  of  our 
neighbors,  especially  Sister  Martha  Stewart,  and  my  aunt,  Ell 
Wheeler,  for  keeping  our  children  and  teaching  them  as  if  they 
had  been  their  own.  When  the  crowning  day  comes,  these  pre- 
cious women  will  surely  be  rewarded  for  helping  us  win  souls. 
It  took  a  good  bit  of  thinking  to  pack  Irene  and  Rowland  for 
one  place,  Myrtle  and  Bliss  to  separate  places,  and  then  arrange 
our  grips  with  baby's  things,  books,  tracts  and  so  on,  but  God 
helped  me.  The  greater  the  task  to  get  off  was,  it  seemed  the 
bigger  the  victory  ahead. 

During  those  years,  I  think  it  was  in  the  early  spring  of  1904, 
my  husband  was  preaching  near  Wilson  Mills,  Johnston  county. 
He  was  called  upon  to  pray  for  old  Uncle  Telfer  Jones,  a  colored 
man  that  had  not  walked  a  step  in  several  years.  God  healed 
him.  He  arose,  walked  the  house  that  day,  and  to  Smithfield, 
four  miles,  the  next  day.   I  think  it  was  three  or  more  years  he 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


41 


had  been  bound  by  Satan,  as  Jesus  said;  and  he  too  was  loosed 
on  the  Sabbath  day.  Many  other  cases  of  healing  we  witnessed 
before  Pentecost.  I  remember  another  case  in  Cartaret  county. 
An  old  woman  had  been  shut  in  two  years,  I  think  it  was.  Hus- 
band prayed  for  her,  she  arose  and  walked  to  her  neighbor's 
house  in  a  short  time. 

During  the  month  of  July,  1905,  we  were  invited  by  Brother 
Blaylock,  the  pastor  of  New  Hope  church,  Johnston  county,  to 
assist  him  in  a  meeting.  We  went.  In  our  congregation  were 
two  men  we  owed  fifty  dollars  each;  had  owed  it  two  years  or 
more,  I  think.  We  just  could  not  pay  it.  How  bad  we  felt  to 
try  to  hold  a  meeting  in  the  face  of  this,  but  we  knew  we  had 
worked  hard  and  economized,  and  felt  before  God  we  had  tried 
and  could  not.  Husband  went  and  told  the  men  (they  were 
twin  brothers,  Cousins  Ben  and  Ranee  Allen)  that  he  was  sorry 
he  could  not  pay  the  debt  when  due.  They  bore  with  him  until 
he  could  pay  the  debt.  They  were  Christians,  and  bore  with  him 
long.  The  Lord  worked  in  a  wonderful  way.  All  of  both  their 
children  that  were  old  enough,  that  were  at  that  time  unsaved, 
were  converted  and  joined  the  church;  some  of  them  were  sanc- 
tified. At  the  close  of  the  meeting  Bro.  Ranee  gave  us  twenty- 
five  dollars  of  the  debt,  and  Cousin  Ben  twenty.  We  spent 
Christmas  with  them.  Cousin  Ranee  gave  us  the  other  twenty- 
five,  interest  and  all,  with  a  fine  fat  pig.  Cousin  Ben  gave  us  a 
sack  of  meat,  I  have  forgotten  how  much  —  a  lot  in  my  eyes 
then,  I  can  tell  you  —  and  waited  about  two  or  three  more  years 
for  the  balance  of  the  money,  and  never  did  charge  any  interest. 
We  surely  did  thank  God,  and  named  a  second  son  for  them,  Ben- 
jamin Ransom. 

That  Christmas  I  shall  never  forget.  We  helped  eat  five 
Christmas  turkeys  at  different  homes;  had  some  good  services 
at  the  Sanders'  schoolhouse.  My  husband  preached  in  tents, 
brush  arbors,  schoolhouses,  on  street  corners,  in  churches;  any- 
where God  led  and  the  place  was  open.  He  stood  for  the  truth 
of  Bible  holiness  in  hard  places.  Among  a  furious  mob  once,  I 
remember.  A  boy  came  to  the  shelter  we  were  preaching  under 
in  Moore  county  and  informed  us  that  a  mob  of  sawmill  darkeys 
were  soon  to  be  on  us  to  run  us  from  the  meeting.   They  came 


4: 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


near  enough  so  we  understood  them  as  they  raved  out,  "  Shoot 
him  again,"  and  fired  eleven  times,  but  never  came  any  nearer. 
My  husband  preached  the  boldest  I  almost  ever  heard  him.  He 
assured  the  people  that  God  was  there,  and  that  He  was  the 
God  that  dried  up  the  hand  of  the  wicked  king  that  rose  up 
against  God's  prophet.  I  think  the  mob  thought  it  had  a  bad 
crowd  to  scare,  and  they  hushed  up.  We  went  on  unmolested. 
God  gave  us  a  good  service  that  night. 

Once  in  Johnston  county,  Pleasant  Grove  township,  a  mob 
came  in  the  church  to  club  him.  Ordered  the  lamps  put  out. 
God  stood  by,  and  no  one  was  hurt.  I  saw  a  wicked  man  collar 
him  with  an  open  knife  in  his  hand,  and  threaten  his  life.  To 
be  a  true  preacher  of  the  truth  means  to  get  ready  to  die  by  it. 

My  husband  always  insisted  on  me  leading  all  the  services 
I  felt  led  to  during  a  meeting.  One  meeting  our  Rowland  was 
about  eight  months  old,  sick  all  the  time,  cried  day  and  night. 
When  husband  preached,  I  walked  the  church  yard  with  the 
baby.  When  I  had  the  service  he  had  to  walk  with  the  baby,  but 
the  Lord  blessed  us,  and  we  had  a  blessed  time.  Oh,  how  God 
has  provided  for  us!  Clothes,  shoes,  quilts,  groceries  and  every- 
thing, we  have  just  trusted  God  and  it  has  come. 

Once  when  Ransom  was  six  weeks  old,  I  was  at  home  with 
the  five  acres  of  farm  and  the  children.  One  day  I  was  wash- 
ing, and  received  my  mail.  The  letter  was  from  my  husband,  tell- 
ing me  to  send  the  children  this  way  and  that  way,  bring  the 
baby  with  me  and  be  there  in  about  forty-eight  hours,  a  distance 
of  about  a  hundred  miles.  But  with  the  aid  of  mother,  brothers 
and  sisters,  I  made  the  trip,  and  arrived  at  the  appointed  time. 
But  alas!  when  I  offered  my  check  for  my  baggage,  it  was  not 
there.  Oh,  my,  what  shall  I  do?  Left  among  the  baggage  at 
Benson,  and  I  at  Ivanhoe;  a  baby  and  myself  to  dress.  I  was 
met  at  the  station  by  Sister  Mamie  Henry  (now  in  glory),  and 
she  said,  "  Sister  Goff,  I  am  so  glad  your  baggage  was  left."  I 
was  astonished  at  her.  She  said,  "  Well,  God  wants  you  to  have 
some  more  clothes,  and  you  will  get  them;  but  if  you  had  your 
baggage  you  would  not  get  them."  It  proved  to  be  true..  The 
baby's  need  was  amply  supplied,  and  mine  also.  We  kept  the 
baby  out  in  June  under  a  large  oak  shelter,  built  of  bushes  in 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


43 


front  of  it.  He  fattened  on  his  first  evangelistic  tour,  and  seems 
to  like  it  yet. 

The  meeting  at  Kelly's  will  never  be  forgotten  by  those  who 
attended  it.  Many  were  saved  and  sanctified  and  several  healed. 
One  thing  I  saw  there  I  have  never  seen  just  like  that  anywhere. 
On  Sabbath  morning,  at  the  close  of  the  meeting,  as  service 
began,  a  cloud  came  up,  and  a  heavy  rain  seemed  to  be  over  us. 
My  husband  called  for  prayer.  He  asked  God  to  drive  the  cloud 
away,  so  the  people  would  not  get  wet.  He  got  up  and  preached, 
the  cloud  split  over  us,  and  in  a  little  way  from  us  it  rained  so 
some  of  the  people  had  to  stop,  and  missed  the  morning  service. 
God  did  it;  that's  all. 

A  few  years  before  this  meeting,  Bros.  Page  and  Avant  held 
the  first  holiness  meeting  down  there.  Mamie  and  Ed  Henry 
and  their  old  colored  woman  were  all  saved  and  sanctified.  Bro. 
Ed  soon  accepted  a  position  with  a  firm  down  in  Georgia.  They 
moved  down  there.  While  they  were  down  there,  Aunt  Mary 
Jane  Hayes,  the  old  colored  woman  mentioned  above,  was  still 
on  their  farm  in  Bladen  county,  took  consumption,  was  very 
low,  and  without  food.  One  night  as  Brother  and  Sister  Henry 
knelt  to  pray  in  their  Georgia  home,  Sister  Mamie  began  to 
shout,  "  Yes,  Lord,  Mary  Jane  Hayes  shall  have  bread!  "  Ed 
said,  "  What,  wife,  are  you  losing  your  mind?  "  She  said,  "  No; 
I  saw  Mary  Jane  on  her  knees  begging  God  for  bread."  They 
wrote  John  Kelly  to  take  her  some  bread.  He  went  over  and 
found  her  lying  there  on  an  old  straw  bed,  and  bed  sores  on  her 
where  the  slats  in  the  bed  were.  He  said,  "  How  are  you,  Aunt 
Mary?  "  "  I  am  almost  dead,  but  I  am  happy."  He  said,  "  Have 
you  any  bread?  "  She  replied,  "  None  except  what  you  see 
cooking,  but  God  will  send  me  some."  He  read  the  letter  to  her. 
She  shouted  so  he  could  scarcely  read  it.  What  I  see  in  this  is 
if  Jesus  is  in  our  hearts  we  can  be  happy  on  a  poor  bed  and  with 
little  food ;  and  another  thing  I  see,  we  have  to  pray  so  long  some- 
times for  money  or  clothes,  when  maybe  God  tells  five  or  ten, 
maybe  more,  people  to  supply  our  needs  before  any  obey.  No 
doubt  many  of  God's  people  around  the  old  darkey  had  been 
gently  reminded  by  God  of  her  need,  but  no  one  near  would 
listen,  so  God  listened  to  her  cry  for  bread  until  He  said,  "  She 


44 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


shall  have  it,  if  I  have  to  alarm  My  child  five  hundred  miles  away 
to  send  her  bread."  She  got  the  bread.  After  that,  she  soon  died 
a  triumphant  death  and  soared  away  to  glory. 

We  held  meetings  all  that  summer ;  helped  pastors  in  churches 
most  all  the  time.  God  never  failed  to  give  a  revival.  The  year 
of  1906,  my  husband  began  to  talk  about  moving  to  Falcon, 
where  we  could  send  the  children  to  a  holiness  school.  In  March 
we  were  going  to  take  a  three  months'  tour  for  Jesus.  Our  little 
ones  were  scattered,  Irene  with  Aunt  Ell;  Rowland  with  his 
Grandmother  Goff,  sixty  miles  from  home;  Myrtle,  Bliss  and 
baby  were  to  go  with  us.  Our  first  meeting  was  to  be  at  Bethel 
Holiness  School.  Brother  G.  F.  Taylor  at  that  time  was  prin- 
cipal of  the  school.  The  Spirit  worked;  so  did  the  devil.  It 
looked  like  Sister  Taylor  and  her  Baby,  Havens,  would  die.  We 
prayed  some  nights  a  good  part  of  the  night.  Victory  came  at 
last.  They  were  healed.  The  meeting  was  real  good.  I  never 
have  enjoyed  a  trip  better.  The  meeting  and  commencement  were 
all  held  together.  The  commencement  helped  the  meeting.  It 
was  on  Bible  lines.  Had  a  good  sermon  that  day  by  Brother  A. 
B.  Crumpler.  Hymns  were  sung,  pieces  on  the  second  coming 
of  Jesus,  tribulation,  and  so  on,  were  recited  by  the  students.  It 
was  all  over  and  we  went  to  Magnolia.  Sister  Alice  Cook  came 
and  carried  Myrtle  home  with  her  and  kept  her  until  we  held 
meeting  at  Magnolia  and  Beulahville.  When  they  were  over, 
Bliss  went  to  Brother  Cook's  and  we  took  Myrtle  with  us.  The 
meeting  at  Magnolia  was  real  good;  many  were  blessed.  Sister 
Murphy,  of  Bethel,  was  a  good  woman.  She  was  burdened  for 
her  people  at  Beulahaville,  and  she  got  us  and  Brother  G.  F. 
Taylor  off  down  there.  Sent  her  daughter  Lessie  to  play  and 
Maggie  Bryan  to  help  sing.  We  drove  fifteen  miles  down  there; 
found  a  good  large  crowd  gathered  in  an  old  dilapidated  Pres- 
byterian church.  Holiness  in  its  fulness  had  only  once  been 
preached  there.  The  people  were  Presbyterians  and  no-hellites. 
WTe  were  more  readily  received  than  we  expected  to  be.  A  well- 
to-do  farmer,  the  man  that  owned  the  church  house,  gave  us  a 
welcome  in  his  home,  treated  us  very  nice.  Stopped  his  hired 
men  and  let  them  go  to  church  at  eleven  o'clock;  carried  his 
organ  into  the  church.'  Conviction  got  on  the  people.   God  began 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


45 


to  work.  Several  were  saved;  some  reclaimed;  but  at  the  end 
of  a  week  the  clever  man  that  had  treated  us  so  nice  took  a  notion 
that  the  meeting  must  close;  forbade  his  wife  or  children  going 
any  more.  We  were  still  in  his  home.  We  took  meals  off  in  the 
daytime,  but  he  told  us  to  come  back  every  night  until  that  Mon- 
day night.  Brother  Taylor  and  husband  stayed  in  the  woods 
most  all  the  evening  praying.  They  did  not  come  back  for 
supper.  They  got  the  news  that  he  wanted  the  meeting  stopped. 
My  husband  said  he  would  carry  it  on  if  he  slept  in  the  church 
and  boarded  at  the  store.  He  said  God  said  go  on,  and  he  would. 
We  left  the  house  that  night.  None  of  the  family  said  to  come 
back;  none  went  with  us.  Service  over,  everybody  left,  and  no 
one  said,  "  Go  with  me,"  so  we  just  stayed  in  the  church,  prayed, 
shouted  and  sang  all  night.  It  was  one  of  those  cold  nights  in 
April  when  feather  beds  and  warm  blankets  are  just  comfortable. 
Bliss  and  my  baby  Ranee  were  asleep  on  a  bench,  covered  with 
their  father's  overcoat.  He  carried  the  heater  in  the  house, 
picked  up  pine  knots  and  made  a  fire.  There  were  about  twelve 
or  fifteen  lights  out  of  the  windows.  I  pinned  my  baby's  garments 
over  the  cold,  broken  windows,  and  we  stayed  all  night.  The  peo- 
ple were  disturbed,  they  said,  by  dogs  barking,  all  night.  The 
folks  somehow  found  it  out.  The  man's  wife  we  had  been  stop- 
ping with  came  after  us  about  sunrise.  She  said  if  she  had  known 
it,  she  would  not  have  slept  a  bit  all  night.  We  had  plenty  of 
invitations  after  that.  We  closed  out  there  with  good  victory 
in  our  souls,  feeling  at  least  we  had  given  them  the  truth. 

Brother  Murphy  sent  after  us.  We  came  to  his  home,  and 
spent  Monday  there.  I  ate  some  strawberries,  and  was  taken 
with  appendicitis.  We  prayed  and  I  claimed  the  victory.  We 
left  for  Wilmington  next  day.  That  day  I  suffered  ail  day.  Hus- 
band went  to  his  appointment.  I  stayed  at  Uncle  D.  M.  Beards- 
ley's.  At  about  eleven  o'clock  I  was  taken  with  death-like  pangs. 
Oh,  what  I  endured  from  then  until  four  o'clock  in  the  morning 
will  never  be  known!  The  pain  was  greater  than  my  faith. 
I  gave  way  after  so  much  pain  until  it  had  taken  my  strength  so  it 
took  two  to  raise  me  up.  I  longed  to  die.  I  would  far  rather 
have  died  than  been  carried  to  the  hospital.  But  I  could  not  die 
or  get  better,  it  seemed;  just  suffering  death.    I  consented  for 


It 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


a  doctor.  He  came  and  pronounced  it  acute  appendicitis.  Said 
to  telegraph  my  people  that  something  must  be  done  or  I  would 
be  dead  in  twelve  hours.  I  was  carried  away  so  near  dead  that 
I  did  not  kiss  my  little  girl  or  baby  goodby.  I  gave  my  husband 
orders  as  to  my  funeral,  on  the  ambulance  going  to  the  hospital. 
He  was  crying.  I  had  no  tears  —  I  was  past  crying.  I  feared 
no  evil.  I  did  not  care  if  I  did  die,  I  was  in  such  agony.  I  was 
operated  on  with  no  fear.  I  told  the  doctor  I  did  not  fear  the 
operation  or  death.  He  said,  "  That's  good."  I  stayed  there 
thirty-one  days.  My  baby  was  just  a  year  old,  and  spent  his 
first  birthday  in  James  Walker  Hospital,  Wilmington,  N.  C.  He 
too  was  very  sick.  The  doctors  gave  him  over  to  us;  said  to  take 
the  child  to  the  country  for  fresh  air  and  country  milk.  This 
was  the  first  medicine  we  had  ever  given  any  of  our  children. 
This  was  the  fifth  child.  I  had  not  tasted  drugs  for  seven  years. 
Oh,  what  a  blow  to  our  faith!  But  God  was  so  good  to  us.  When 
I  could  not  have  faith  for  my  healing,  God  paid  my  hospital 
bill,  every  cent.  I  bought  a  good  sewing  machine  —  not  a  costly 
one.  We  paid  eighteen  dollars  for  it;  paid  a  girl  to  keep  house 
for  me  until  I  could  have  faith  for  healing.  I  have  often  won- 
dered why  the  doctor  did  not  request  a  note  or  recommendation. 
He  did  not  ask  if  we  were  good  or  bad,  rich  or  poor;  just  carried 
me  over.  We  received  one  hundred  and  forty-eight  dollars  while 
I  was  there.  It  came  in  through  the  mail  from  friends  of  God 
and  holiness  at  different  places  where  we  had  been.  When  enough 
had  come,  the  money  stopped  coming.  That  year  Brother  C.  L. 
Cook  gave  us  sixty  dollars.  We  were  soon  out  of  debt,  and  for 
about  three  years  trusted  God;  lived  on  what  He  gave  us;  did 
not  go  in  debt  for  a  spool  of  thread.  Oh,  what  freedom!  I  felt 
like  flying,  almost.  That  old  dead,  heavy  weight  was  gone.  Debt 
—  how  it  hurts  a  preacher  to  carry  a  burden  for  souls  and  a  load 
of  debt.  We  were  out  of  debt  until  we  built  at  Falcon.  We 
needed  a  good-sized  house  for  our  family,  and  we  remembered 
camp  meeting  came  once  a  year.  We  have  hundreds  of  friends. 
How  I  do  love  to  have  them  come  and  share  with  us  what  God 
gives  us. 

The  first  year  that  we  were  here,  a  preacher  that  does  not  live 
near  here  said,  "  Brother  Goff,  how  are  you  going  to  do  at  camp 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


47 


meeting?''  He  answered,  "Take  all  that  come  to  my  house; 
eat  what  God  gives  us,  and  let  God  pay  the  bills."  The  preacher 
said,  "  They  will  break  you  up."  Husband  said,  "  Well,  that 
won't  take  much.   I  trust  God.   I  am  not  afraid." 

That  year  our  neighbors  in  front  of  us  and  some  others  fell 
in  debt,  charging  sixty  cents  per  day  for  board.  We  came  out  a 
little  over,  enough  to  buy  groceries  for  several  days  after  camp 
meeting  was  over.  We  gave  away  over  four  hundred  meals,  blessed 
several  poor  ones,  and  made  many  glad.  We  rejoiced,  God  fed 
us,  and  we  had  a  good  time.  One  year  we  had  sixty-two  in  our 
house.  God  fed  us  all,  and  we  had  some  left.  Now,  sister,  you 
wonder  how  so  many  sleep  in  a  six-room  house.  Well,  just  let 
me  tell  you.  We  have  camp  meeting  beds;  that  means  a  pile  of 
wheat  straw,  all  over  half  a  room  sometimes,  and  fill  it  full  of 
women  and  children.  Another  room  the  same  way,  full  of  men 
and  boys.  Some  lose  their  clothes,  it  is  true,  but  they  are  holi- 
ness folks  you  know,  and  they  never  quarrel  about  it.  Sometimes 
it  is  very  difficult  to  get  a  cook.  One  year  I  prayed  for  a  cook, 
I  mean  a  colored  woman,  so  I  could  go  to  camp  meeting.  I  did 
not  tell  the  Lord  a  black  woman,  I  just  said,  "A  cook,  Lord,  I 
must  have."  He  sent  me  about  forty  nice  Holy  Ghost  cooks. 
Everyone  almost  wanted  to  help.    How  the  Lord  does  bless. 

I  remember  once  I  got  to  shouting  and  spilled  the  peas  I  was 
preparing  for  dinner;  and  again  six  women  were  dancing  and 
talking  in  tongues  in  the  cookroom,  and  we  burned  a  piece  or 
two  of  fish  a  little.  Again  it  was  hard  to  get  the  crowd  to  supper 
while  fourteen  were  leaping,  dancing  and  talking  in  tongues  on 
the  back  porch  and  in  the  hall.  Some  were  so  happy  they  could 
not  eat.  Bro.  N.  J.  Page  came  in.  He  had  just  received  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  was  jumping  up  about  two  feet  high,  shouting 
at  the  top  of  his  voice,  "  Bloodwashed!  "  Who  could  eat  supper? 
Again,  several  were  healed,  and  one  night  two  little  girls  received 
the  Holy  Ghost  here  in  the  hall,  while  grown  folks  were  having 
a  big  time  at  the  tabernacle.  You  say,  "  Well,  I  do  wonder  how 
God  feeds  all  those  people."   Well,  I  will  tell  you  just  how. 

One  summer  the  Lord  told  some  good  folks  we  would  need' 
some  chickens  for  the  camp  meeting,  and  they  just  shipped  us 
thirty-five  nice  broilers.    The  Lord  told  others  to  give,  some 


4S 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


money,  some  vegetables,  and  so  on,  until  everything  came  in 
that  we  needed.  Praise  God.  Well,  I  must  tell  you  something 
of  the  years  we  were  out  of  debt. 

I  think  during  the  first  of  1906  we  paid,  or  God  helped  us,  out 
of  debt.  I  was  operated  on  May  2,  1906.  Came  home  June  7th. 
I  was  a  bedridden  invalid  until  the  Falcon  Camp  Meeting.  This 
was  the  last  of  August.  I  came  to  camp  meeting,  the  trip  of  fif- 
teen miles,  by  rail.  A  buggy  ride  to  and  from  the  stations  al- 
most seemed  like  it  would  kill  me.  Next  morning  was  Sunday. 
Oh,  what  pain  I  was  in!  Every  nerve  seemed  unstrung,  every 
limb  ached.  I  was  in  a  torture  with  pain.  I  tried  three  times 
to  dress  myself.  I  lay  down  twice  while  trying  to  dress;  the  sec- 
ond time  gave  way  to  sobbing.  My  grief  was  too  much.  How 
well  and  strong  I  was  until  this  awful  affliction  came!  Now  a 
poor  invalid.  Doctors  had  failed  to  cure  me.  The  doctor  told 
me  to  be  careful  how  I  used  a  knife  and  fork,  and  not  to  lift  a 
plate  of  bread.  The  thought  of  being  an  invalid  broke  my  heart. 
So  many  times  that  summer  I  saw  my  baby  fall  from  the  bed  or 
out  of  doors;  had  to  look  at  him  lie  and  cry  until  some  one  could 
come  and  pick  him  up.  As  soon  as  we  got  him  out  of  the  hospital 
we  carried  him  to  Uncle  D.  M.  Beardsley's  in  Wilmington.  Bro. 
G.  F.  Taylor  and  wife  were  visiting  in  the  city  at  that  time.  We 
got  him  to  come  over  and  anoint  the  baby  and  pray  for  him.  He 
got  well  pretty  soon.  I  guess  the  doctors  thought  fresh  air  and 
country  milk  cured  him,  but  we  say  the  Lord  did  it. 

I  started  to  tell  you  about  dressing  to  go  to  the  Sunday  morn- 
ing service,  where  God  touched  my  body  in  a  wonderful  way.  I 
dressed,  the  third  effort,  dragged  along  in  pain  from  head  to  foot 
every  step  of  the  way  from  camp  No.  17  to  the  tabernacle,  where 
the  meeting  was  held.  I  arose,  told  my  story,  sobbing,  and  asked 
for  prayer;  told  them  I  would  be  obliged  to  go  home  without  re- 
lief, and  to  go  home  might  kill  me,  as  coming  had  made  me  so 
much  worse.  I  will  never  forget  the  volume  of  prayer  that  arose 
from  that  vast  throng  that  Sabbath  morning.  The  prayer  was 
answered.  I  felt  in  my  body  that  I  was  healed.  Glory!  I  could 
walk  as  fast  as  anybody  I  walked  with  after  that.  I  went  up- 
stairs when  I  pleased  the  next  day.  The  day  I  was  healed  I  could 
scarcely  drag  in  at  the  camp  door.    I  went  home,  took  all  my 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


49 


work,  let  my  housekeeper  go  free,  did  my  washing,  scrubbing,  and 
everything;  made  up  my  first  bed  September  6th,  after  coming 
home  from  camp  meeting.  God  help  me  to  give  Thee  the  praise! 
God  had  done  in  one  day  what  the  doctors  had  tried  to  do  for 
months  and  failed.  We  then  began  our  evangelistic  work  to- 
gether. My  husband  had  been  compelled  to  nurse  me  a  great 
deal  of  the  summer.  He  preached  almost  every  night  while  I 
was  in  the  hospital;  would  fast  and  pray,  walk  three  and  four 
miles  through  the  city  to  see  me  every  day,  and  take  the  round  to 
his  appointment  at  night.  He  helped  do  the  preaching  at  the 
camp  meeting  that  year,  and  held  a  meeting  at  Leland.  I  think 
it  was  all  he  got  to  attend  until  September.  My  health  was  good 
all  the  fall.  We  had  some  good  meetings.  While  we  were  at 
Brother  Cook's,  in  November,  I  discovered  that  there  was  some- 
thing wrong  with  my  side  that  had  been  operated  on.  It  pained 
me,  and  I  found  a  large  knot  or  hernia  had  formed.  Then  I  began 
to  go  down.  I  became  a  physical  wreck  again,  seeing  death,  as 
I  thought,  slowly  approaching.  I  did  not  fear  death,  but  to  see 
so  much  need;  so  many  calls  for  mamma  from  my  five  little 
ones,  and  I  was  not  able  to  come  up  the  steps  with  a  quart  of 
water  in  a  bucket.  The  doctor  was  called.  He  examined  me 
December  27th  and  told  me  my  doom.  He  looked  very  grave 
as  he  said,  "  Madam,  you  have  something  that  will  trouble  you 
all  your  life,  unless  you  go  back  to  the  hospital  and  have  another 
operation  performed."  I  decided  I  had  had  enough  of  doctors' 
knives;  I  would  take  Jesus  or  die. 

In  a  few  days  Brother  Cash  well  began  the  first  Pentecostal 
meeting  in  this  part  of  the  country.  He  had  been  to  Los  An- 
geles, California,  and  received  the  Holy  Ghost.  Came  back,  re- 
quested every  holiness  preacher  in  the  convention  and  every  child 
of  God  interested  to  attend  this  meeting.  I  thought  I  had  received 
the  Holy  Ghost  when  I  was  sanctified,  as  my  husband,  my  father 
and  all  others  preached  that  I  heard.  I  thought  we  were  getting 
on  fine;  had  been  having  good  meetings;  everywhere  almost  God 
blessed  us.  We  had  taken  offerings  and  supported  a  missionary 
in  China  that  year.  We  paid  the  tenth;  had  got  out  of  debt. 
All  was  all  right  except  my  body  at  this  time,  I  thought.  I  would 
get  so  burdened  over  sinners  at  times  it  seemed  like  I  would  die. 


^0 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


I  have  had  such  a  burden  I  could  not  walk,  and  when  I  gained 
my  strength  so  I  could  walk,  the  tears  ran  in  my  eyes  so  I  could 
not  see  my  way.  I  had  been  prostrate  under  the  power  of  God 
for  hours;  had  seen  visions;  been  in  trances;  had  my  hands  so 
drawn  by  the  power  of  God  until  a  strong  man  could  not  open 
them.  I  had  borne  some  awful  persecutions  and  could  rejoice  in 
them.  My  husband  had  been  saved  in  a  wonderful  way.  At  the 
age  of  twenty-two  God  showed  him  his  condition  by  the  death  of 
his  fourteen-year-old  sister.  His  conversion  was  wonderful.  His 
zeal  for  God's  cause  caused  him  to  work  hard  all  day  and  walk 
several  miles  to  prayer  meeting  at  night.  Thirty  days  after  his 
conversion  he  was  wonderfully  sanctified  and  soon  went  to 
preaching.  His  burden  for  souls  was  so  great  at  times,  he  would 
meet  old  friends  on  the  road  and  cry  over  them;  pray  in  the  road 
for  their  salvation;  soon  his  worldly  sisters,  mother  and  poor 
wicked  father  were  saved.  The  home  of  a  drinking,  cursing  man 
changed  into  a  home  of  shouting  and  praying.  Oh,  what  God 
can  do!  He  borrowed  a  Bible  or  money  to  buy  one,  and  soon 
was  having  great  revivals;  sometimes -numbers  would  be  prostrate 
on  the  floor  in  a  service.  He  was  very  ignorant  at  that  time;  had 
only  been  to  school  ten  months,  but  God  blessed  him;  he  stuck 
to  his  Bible  till  he  wore  two  good  ones  out;  they  are  marked  all 
over  and  literally  worn  out.  They  are  kept  now  as  sacred 
souvenirs,  to  remind  us  of  bygone  days  and  the  blessings  of  the 
Lord  on  us. 

We  both  thought  we  had  all  the  Pentecost  Brother  Cashwell 
had  after  going  to  Los  Angeles;  but  one  trip  to  the  meeting 
changed  his  mind.  He  said,  "  Something  has  surely  struck  Bro. 
Cashwell;  he  spoke  a  few  words  in  tongues."  He  wanted  to  go 
back,  but  was  on  a  land  trade  at  Falcon  and  came  off  down  here 
to  buy  a  lot  or  to  see  about  building,  and  was  going  back  by 
Dunn  to  the  meeting. 

At  Christmas  Brother  Blaylock  was  at  our  home.  We  were 
talking  about  the  meeting  that  was  to  be  held  at  Dunn.  I  said  I 
had  all  the  tongues  I  needed.  Brother  Blaylock  looked  at  me 
and  said,  "  Mind  what  you  say."  I  would  have  given  a  great  deal 
if  I  had  not  said  it.  I  said,  "  Well,  I  want  all  the  Holy  Ghost  I 
can  get,  and  if  I  was  to  hear  you  speaking  in  tongues  it  would 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


51 


make  me  feel  strange."  While  husband  was  gone  to  Falcon  I  re- 
ceived a  card  from  Brother  Blaylock  stating  that  Brothers  Sellers, 
Willie  Strickland,  R.  B.  Jackson  and  Brother  Blaylock  had  all 
received  their  Pentecost  and  spoke  in  tongues  and  said:  "  Come, 
Brother  Goff,  at  once,  bring  Sister  Goff  and  get  the  Holy  Ghost." 
About  the  same  day  I  received  a  letter  from  my  husband  saying: 
"  No  time  to  buy  land,  but  this  is  the  time  for  us  to  get  the  Holy 
Ghost."  I  went  to  the  house  crying,  so  I  could  not  see  to  sew. 
I  longed  to  go.  How  could  I?  Husband  was  down  there  every 
day.  I  hoped  he  would  get  his  baptism  and  come  home,  so  I 
could  go  too.  My  mother  said  if  I  could  go  to  that  meeting  I 
would  be  healed.  I  looked  for  my  husband  until  Saturday  morn- 
ing. He  had  driven  over  with  Brother  Blaylock's  horse  and 
buggy  after  me.  We  all  ran  out  to  meet  him.  The  children 
began  in  a  chorus:  "  Papa,  papa,  have  you  got  the  tongues?  " 
"  No,"  was  his  sad  reply,  "  but  I  want  it  worse  than  anything 
in  all  the  world."  He  put  his  arms  around  me,  began  to  cry,  and 
said,  "  Honey,  I  see  the  holiness  people  as  I  never  saw  them  be- 
fore. They  are  the  foolish  virgins  without  the  oil."  I  cried,  too. 
He  said,  "  I  have  brought  the  buggy  to  take  you  too.  Get  ready; 
your  mother  said  she  would  keep  all  the  children."  On  the  way, 
He  looked  up  and  sighed,  "  Oh,  I  hope  Jesus  will  not  come  until 
I  get  the  Holy  Ghost."  I  said:  "  Why,  my  dear,  I  never  heard 
you  say  before  you  did  not  want  to  see  Jesus  to  come  any  time." 
He  said,  "  I  almost  get  the  Holy  Ghost  every  time  I  seek,  and  the 
time  I  almost  receive  it  someone  goes  to  speaking  in  tongues, 
and  it  attracts  my  attention  and  I  miss  the  blessing."  I  had 
never  heard  any  one  speak  in  tongues,  but  I  made  up  my  mind 
that  I  would  be  healed  and  get  the  Holy  Ghost  that  day,  let  them 
do  as  they  may.  When  we  reached  the  place  I  heard  Sister  Mc- 
Laughlin (now  in  heaven)  praying,  "  O  God,  do  give  Bro.  Goff 
the  Holy  Ghost."  As  I  went  down  the  aisle  they  arose  from 
prayer.  She  threw  her  arms  around  me  and  cried,  "  Sister  Goff, 
the  blessed  Holy  Ghost  has  come.  He's  come!  Sit  down!  " 
Then  she  began  to  sing  a  heavenly  song  in  other  tongues,  a  new 
sound  to  me.  About  that  time  Bro.  Mcintosh  arose  and  began 
talking  in  tongues.  O!  how  I  cried!  I  felt  like  God  was  speak- 
ing.  I  was  as  one  standing  before  God,  it  seemed  to  me.    I  fell 


52 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


on  my  face  at  the  altar  by  my  husband  and  began  to  beg  God  to 
heal  and  baptize  me  with  the  Spirit.  What  could  be  the  matter? 
I  only  had  to  go  to  the  altar  once  to  be  converted;  once  to  be 
sanctified.  What  was  wrong?  My  heart  was  clean.  I  was  under 
the  blood.  My  consecration  was  complete,  I  was  sure.  "  Why, 
Lord,  how  is  it?  "  I  was  trying  to  have  my  way.  I  was  praying, 
"  Lord,  let  me  arise  and  interpret  what  the  others  said."  I  did 
not  care  to  speak  myself.  I  thought  any  of  the  nine  gifts  would 
do  as  well  as  to  speak  in  tongues,  but  I  arose  disappointed.  The 
meeting  was  opened  for  testimony.  I  was  the  first,  I  think,  to 
make  my  request.  I  told  of  how  my  faith  had  failed  me  the 
year  before.  How  after  much  suffering  God  healed  me,  and  that 
the  old  troubles  had  come  back,  and  I  was  there  to  be  healed  and 
get  the  H'oly  Ghost.  Brother  Cashwell  said,  "  Come  to  the 
altar."  I  went.  Four  or  five  saints  came,  laid  hands  on  me,  the 
Holy  Ghost  struck  me;  my  hands  began  to  draw;  my  jaws  be- 
came stiff ;  the  power  went  all  over  me.  The  saliva  flew  four  feet 
from  me;  my  tongue  became  first  stiff;  they  said,  "  Praise  God." 
I  tried  to;  my  tongue  just  flew.  I  arose  knowing  I  was  healed 
and  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost.  I  had  not  been  a  day  for 
a  time  without  a  body  supporter,  and  had  not  slept  on  my  left 
side  in  months  without  terrible  pain.  That  evening  we  went  to 
Brother  Cashwell 's  to  a  prayer  meeting.  Sister  Cashwell  re- 
ceived her  Pentecost  that  evening.  The  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
came  on  me  and  I  sang  in  tongues.  Oh,  the  glory!  My  husband 
thought  he  received  his  Pentecost  about  two  minutes  before  I 
did.  He  was  blessed  and  shook  under  the  power,  but  did  not 
get  satisfied.  He  claimed  he  had  the  Comforter  when  he  arose 
shouting  so,  but  afterwards  said  he  did  not  get  Him  and  went 
down  again.  His  trouble  was  all  those  sermons  he  had  preached, 
saying  we  were  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost  when  we  were 
sanctified,  and  Dr.  Watson  and  A.  B.  Crumpler  were  his  big 
trouble.  He  loved  them;  had  thought  them  his  spiritual  instruc- 
tors; had  preached  with  them,  but  said  he  knew  they  would  not 
accept  this  doctrine,  and  they  stood  on  each  side  of  him  for  days. 
"  No  camp-meeting  with  these  men  if  I  get  this."  He  was 
tempted  to  denounce  the  whole  thing  as  of  the  devil  and  go  on 
with  Crumpler  as  he  had  been  at.   "  But  there's  my  wife,  she  is 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


53 


healed;  laid  off  her  supporter,  a  well  woman;  here  I  am,  I  have 
tried  to  get  it  and  cannot.  I  will  quit,"  but  he  could  not.  God 
had  hold  of  him;  he  kept  seeking;  others  going  through  every- 
day—  preacher  after  preacher,  until  thirty  preachers,  I  think, 
had  received.  He  gave  up  his  old  sermons,  big  preachers,  camp- 
meetings,  and  got  willing  to  stay  at  home  and  let  me  go,  if  God 
said  so. 

On  January  17th  he  really  received  the  Holy  Ghost.  The 
power  was  so  great  that  he  shook  the  whole  house ;  a  large  three- 
story  prize  house  or  tobacco  storage  house;  his  lips  flew;  made  a 
noise  like  a  shivering  owl;  this  was  so  humiliating,  for  he  desired 
to  speak  nice  like  Brother  Mcintosh,  but  the  Lord  killed  him 
out  to  that,  and  now  he  speaks,  sings  almost  any  time  at  services 
or  at  home  here  and  often  as  he  walks  along  the  Spirit  speaks 
as  He  will.  One  thing  I  want  to  warn  you  of,  dear  reader,  don't 
doubt  God.  Take  the  manifestation  the  Lord  gives  you.  Praise 
Him  every  moment  for  it.  He  will  bless  you  more.  Husband 
was  really  baptized  and  then  doubted;  it  made  him  bed  sick, 
and  he  took  a  fever,  and  says  he  would  have  died  or  gone  crazy 
had  he  not  accepted  what  God  gave  him.  I  saw  something  was 
wrong;  he  came  home  from  Dunn  gloomy  looking,  complained 
with  a  heavy  aching  in  his  chest;  went  to  bed.  Would  not  tell 
me  a  thing  of  his  trouble  about  doubting  his  experience,  but  I 
felt  it  was  the  devil  after  him.  I  got  him  up  and  insisted  on  his 
going  back  to  Dunn.  Brother  Cashwell  told  him  to  walk  the 
floor  and  praise  God  in  the  presence  of  that  great  multitude; 
he  did.  The  same  power  struck  him  with  the  same  manifestation. 
He  was  glad  to  take  it  that  time.  I  never  cared  about  a  pretty 
language.  I  wanted  the  inward  satisfaction  I  knew  the  Spirit 
brought.  I  got  both.  Glory!  I  just  kept  at  my  job  to  pray 
and  praise  God.  Only  a  few  days  ago  a  poor  sufferer,  now  hap- 
py, healed,  baptized  with  the  Spirit.  I  felt  so  satisfied.  We  at 
once  started  a  meeting  at  home,  Hodges'  Chapel,  that  ran  four 
weeks;  it  snowed  a  big  snow,  sleeted,  hailed,  rained,  but  the  meet- 
ing ran,  the  people  came,  many  were  blessed;  it  began  to  spread. 
Brother  Cook  came  to  Dunn  as  soon  as  he  could  after  getting 
my  husband's  card  to  come.  Received  his  Pentecost,  went  home, 
and  in  a  few  weeks  thirty  down  there  had  received. 


54 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


Our  meeting  closed  at  Hodges  Chapel.  Husband  went  to 
Plain  View  Free  Will  Baptist  church  to  begin  a  meeting  and 
the  church  was  closed  against  him.  He  could  have  demanded 
the  key,  as  he  was  an  ordained  preacher  of  that  church,  but 
Brother  John  Weeks  had  a  large  house  close  by.  He  said,  "  Bro- 
ther Goff,  you  can  preach  here."  So  he  did.  The  Lord  soon 
opened  the  church,  and  such  a  revival  as  followed!  The  meetings 
closed;  he  was  engaged  in  a  wonderful  revival  at  Northeast  Free 
Will  Baptist  church,  where  only  a  few  weeks  before  the  Holy 
Ghost  fell  on  a  young  man  at  prayer  meeting  that  had  never 
heard  Pentecost  preached  at  all.  He  began  to  speak  in  tongues, 
and  it  resulted  in  over  thirty  receiving  the  Holy  Ghost  before  a 
preacher  had  been  down  there  to  preach  it  at  all.  The  power 
was  falling  when  my  husband  received  a  telegram  to  come  home 
at  once,  I  was  about  to  die.  He  came  home,  buried  a  little  boy 
who  only  lived  a  few  hours.  We  had  named  him  for  Brother 
Cook.  Little  Causus  was  a  fine  little  fellow,  but  only  lived  a  few 
hours.  I  was  taken  with  the  kidney  colic  and  had  five  attacks, 
one  after  another,  from  March  until  September.  The  prayer  of 
faith  was  prayed;  while  in  a  meeting  at  New  Hope  a  stone 
passed;  a  sharp,  three-cornered  one  as  large  as  a  bean,  but  very 
rugged  and  sharp.  I  never  would  have  known  it  but  for  the  noise 
when  it  fell,  no  pain  accompained  it;  just  like  the  Lord.  My 
health  then  was  right  good.  I  did  my  work.  We  sold  out  and 
moved  to  Falcon,  January  10,  1908.  On  February  5th,  twins 
were  born.  The  boy  we  named  John  Hodges;  tiie  girl  for  our 
dear  friend,  Sister  Cook,  that  had  gone  to  heaven  a  few  months 
before,  little  Alice.  She  was  the  sweetest  baby  it  seemed  to  me 
I  ever  saw,  because  she  was  little  and  weak,  I  reckon.  The 
babies  were  doing  well,  but  I  thought  they  were  too  small  for 
their  age.  I  went  to  feeding  them;  they  both  took  sick  and  June 
13th,  little  Alice  died.  I  built  many  air  castles,  how  pretty  my 
babies  would  be  by  camp  meeting;  how  they  crumbled.  One 
was  in  heaven;  the  other  a  little  skeleton  almost.  During  baby's 
sickness  there  were  four  men  working  on  this  house;  their  dinner 
to  get  by  twelve;  two  sick  babies  and  a  hundred  other  things  to 
do;  but  every  day  about  ten  o'clock  the  power  would  fall  on  me 
and  I  would  shout,  talk  in  tongues  and  have  a  glory  all  day. 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


55 


We  prayed  and  seemed  to  get  victory  several  times;  she  would 
get  better;  then  worse.  Brother  Luther  Davis  was  painting  our 
house.  He  was  such  a  comfort,  by  his  presence,  prayers  and 
words  of  encouragement;  he  would  nurse  sick  babies,  pray  and 
paint.  It  was^  on  Saturday  morning  we  told  God  to  heal  her  01 
take  her;  before  we  had  begged  Him  to  spare  her;  twice  when 
I  believed  she  was  dying  and  we  prayed  she  got  better  at  once, 
but  Brother  Luther  told  us  how  sick  his  brother  was  when  a 
baby  and  they  prayed  God  to  spare  him  anyhow.  He  is  grown 
now  and  has  told  them  many  times  he  was  sorry  they  prayed 
for  him,  for  if  he  had  died  then,  he  would  have  gone  to  heaven, 
but  now  he  would  be  lost.  We  said,  "  Yes,  Lord,  your  way, 
not  ours."  She  was  living  when  we  arose  from  prayer.  Having 
to  care  for  the  babies  and  also  having  indigestion  brought  me 
from  two  hundred  and  twenty-four  pounds  to  one  hundred  and 
thirty-five  in  six  months.  I  got  so  I  could  not  eat  bread  of  any 
kind;  milk,  water  or  anything  would  put  me  in  awful  pain.  If 
I  fasted  I  suffered.  If  I  ate  it  was  worse.  I  went  off  to  help 
in  a  meeting  near  Kinston,  was  anointed,  God  healed  me;  I 
have  never  had  it  up  to  this  writing.    Glory.   That  was  in  1908. 

At  the  camp  meeting  the  Falcon  work  needed  several  hundred 
dollars  for  indebtedness.  I  cried.  I  longed  to  pay  it  off  and  set 
it  free.  I  was  poor.  What  could  I  do?  I  arose  and  told  the 
people  to  pray  God  to  give  me  strength.  I  would  wash  out  fif- 
teen dollars  per  year.  I  began.  I  could  hardly  pump  a  bucket 
of  water.  I  would  wash  and  pray  and  shout.  I  had  to  sit  down 
to  wash  for  two  washings.  In  a  few  weeks  I  was  well  —  got  well 
washing  for  God.  Glory! 

Our  meetings  were  good  that  year.  Many  were  blessed.  I 
remember  one  case  of  healing.  Among  many  I  saw  that  year  I 
want  to  mention  one  case.  We  were  near  Princeton,  Johnston 
•  county,  holding  a  meeting.  Sister  Mitchell  sent  for  several  of 
the  band  to  accompany  us  over  to  pray  for  her.  We  went  and 
found  she  had  been  quite  sick  with  fever.  A  doctor  was  attend- 
ing her  for  a  week;  she  had  high  fever  then.  Wre  prayed,  and 
she  arose,  shouting,  dancing  and  talking  in  tongues.  Her  daugh- 
ter-in-law got  sanctified  and  began  to  shout,  and  in  ten  minutes 
had  the  Holy  Ghost.    While  the  shouting  was  still  going  on,  the 


56 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


doctor  walked  in.  I  took  the  Bible  and  sat  down  —  got  ready 
for  anything  —  but  the  doctor  was  a  firm  believer  in  prayer, 
and  rejoiced  with  us.  He  did  not  come  to  his  patient  any  more. 
She  made  soap,  and  washed,  and  rode  six  miles  to  meeting  the 
next  week.  She  never  lay  in  bed  another  moment  from  that 
sickness. 

I  saw  Fanny  Hough  healed  of  consumption  a  while  before 
this.  Her  voice  was  gone;  she  talked  in  a  whisper,  coughed 
dreadfully,  appetite  failed;  was  very  weak.  The  saints  gath- 
ered around  her  and  began  to  pray.  She  whispered  to  me  and 
said,  "  Pray  on.  I  will  be  healed."  She  came  off  the  bed,  danced 
over  the  floor.  Some  tried  to  catch  her,  she  was  so  weak,  but  she 
did  not  fall.  She  called  for  food  and  ate  before  we  left.  We 
went  off  in  a  meeting.  When  we  got  home  she  was  picking  two 
hundred  pounds  of  cotton  a  day,  and  at  this  writing  is  still  liv- 
ing.   She  had  been  expecting  to  die  any  time. 

In  April,  1909,  I  was  well  as  usual,  started  to  hit  with  the  ax 
to  kill  a  chicken  for  dinner,  when  a  severe  pain  struck  me  at 
my  right  kidney.  It  soon  made  me  sick  and  gave  me  a  fever.  I 
felt  like  my  breath  would  be  taken.  I  called  in  the  saints;  they 
held  on  to  God  for  an  hour  before  I  was  relieved.  At  last  I  saw 
I  must  believe  or  die.  I  arose,  put  my  foot  on  the  floor  in  Jesus' 
name;  it  felt  as  if  I  would  die,  but  I  walked  and  pleaded  the 
bloody  stripes  of  Jesus.  The  pain  left,  so  I  finished  dinner, 
praised  God  all  the  evening,  and  was  all  right  until  I  lay  down 
that  night.  It  struck  me  again.  I  could  not  turn  any  way,  nor 
get  up,  and  was  just  in  a  torture.  I  sent  for  the  saints  again. 
They  prayed  and  I  was  relieved,  so  I  got  up,  but  the  pain  was 
too  much  to  sleep.  I  decided  I  would  read  and  pray  all  night. 
I  took  my  Bible.  It  fell  open  in  my  hand  to  Psalm  127:2:  "It 
is  vain  for  you  to  rise  up  early,  to  sit  up  late,  to  eat  the  bread  of 
sorrows,  for  so  He  giveth  sleep  to  His  beloved."  I  said,  "  This 
is  for  me.  In  the  name  of  Jesus  I  will  go  to  sleep,"  and  I  did. 
The  devil  left.   Try  that  on  him  if  you  cannot  sleep. 

My  husband  was  healed  of  bronchitis  and  catarrh,  after  los- 
ing twenty-two  pounds  in  two  weeks;  had  to  almost  sit  up  at 
night;  coughed  so  he  could  not  rest. 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


57 


Our  children  have  been  healed  of  fits,  diphtheria,  croup,  pneu- 
monia, fevers,  thrash  and  whooping  cough,  instantly.  One  had 
appendicitis;  and  in  April,  1909,  my  baby  was  asleep,  and  one 
of  the  little  girls  put  a  little  ring  on  his  finger,  as  she  thought. 
It  was  the  top  of  a  very  sharp  glass  bottle  neck.  The  finger  was 
purple  and  badly  swollen  in  a  few  moments.  His  screams  soon 
sent  me  to  take  him  up,  and  oh,  that  little  hand!  What  should  I 
do?  No  chance  to  slip  it  off;  it  would  cut  the  finger  to  the  bone. 
In  fact  it  could  not  be  done,  it  was  so  sharp.  I  sent  for  Bro. 
M.  H.  Alexander.  He  said,  "  The  child  is  suffering;  we  must 
break  it  off."  We  did  the  best  we  could.  It  cut  the  finger  dread- 
fully, and  the  little  fellow  almost  bled  to  death.  We  prayed;  he 
got  weaker;  I  used  a  remedy  that  was  said  to  stop  blood,  but  it 
did  no  good  at  all.  I  sent  in  haste  for  Brothers  J.  H.  King  and 
G.  F.  Taylor.  They  were  eating  dinner,  and  finished  the  meal 
before  they  came,  not  knowing  how  dangerous  it  was  to  wait. 
This  sorely  tried  me.  They  came  and  prayed;  the  blood  stopped 
at  once.  I  set  the  baby  down,  and  went  out  to  my  washing  — 
not  praising  God  for  healing  —  no,  but  pondering  in  my  heart 
whether  the  preachers  cared  if  my  baby  died;  thinking  of  the 
times,  day  or  midnight,  all  over  the  place  I  had  gone  at  a  mo- 
ment's call  to  pray  for  the  sick.  As  these  thoughts  were  in  my 
mind,  Myrtle  called  me,  "  Come,  mamma!  the  baby's  bleeding 
to  death."  My  bad  thoughts  turned  to  trouble;  then  I  saw  my 
mistake;  sent  for  the  same  men  in  great  haste.  The  baby  had 
almost  fainted;  was  wet  in  blood  by  that  time.  As  soon  as  they 
got  in,  I  confessed  my  thoughts;  they  prayed,  the  blood  stopped 
instantly;  baby  was  pale  for  several  days,  but  soon  was  all  right. 
Mind  what  you  think,  dear  reader.  That  time  I  spent  the  eve- 
ning in  praising  God  for  saving  my  baby's  life. 

One  time  Bliss  woke  up  gasping  for  breath,  with  croup.  Her 
father  arose,  got  the  oil  and  anointed  her.  She  got  so  she  could 
speak,  and  said,  "  Papa,  I  was  almost  gone,  wasn't  I?  "  Hun- 
dreds of  times  God  has  delivered  us.  My  children  expect  God 
to  heal  them;  they  ask  for  prayer  and  beg  to  send  for  the  saints 
as  soon  as  they  get  sick.  I  have  known  them  to  healed  praying 
for  one  another. 


58 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


I  have  witnessed  some  wonderful  cases  of  deliverance  here. 
Once  one  of  our  band  fell  crazy;  in  an  instant  the  saints  began  to 
fast  and  pray,  and  deliverance  came  in  forty-eight  hours.  • 

A  baby  had  fever,  meningitis  and  pneumonia;  was  given  up 
on  Friday  to  die.  The  doctor  left;  told  Mrs.  Randall  no  more 
could  be  done;  the  child  would  die,  he  thought,  that  night.  The 
saints  were  called;  prayed  all  night  and  a  good  part  of  the  day 
Saturday,  and  much  of  Sunday.  The  child  was  soon  well,  and 
could  walk  and  talk  as  well  as  ever.  Some  said  his  brain  would 
be  affected,  some  that  he  would  never  walk;  but  God  did  a  com- 
plete work,  and  he  was  made  well. 

Brother  George  Wiggins,  a  schoolboy  here,  was  reported  in 
a  dying  condition  one  Sunday  evening.  Brother  Culbreth  left 
Sunday  school  with  several  others  and  went  to  his  room.  He  was 
unconscious.  His  eyes  seemed  to  be  set  in  death.  Disease  and 
the  work  of  the  devil  was  rebuked  in  Jesus'  name.  The  boy  re- 
gained consciousness  in  about  half  an  hour.  They  prayed  on  until 
he  arose,  dressed,  and  came  down  stairs.  One  boy  said,  "  Well, 
he  has  been  raised  from  the  dead  —  that's  all." 

The  same  Brother  Wiggins  was  taken  later  with  appendicitis. 
The  doctor  told  him  he  must  have  an  operation,  but  he  went  to 
Jesus.  He  was  so  sick  his  people  came  to  take  him  to  the  hos- 
pital. When  they  got  there  the  Lord  had  healed  him.  He  did 
not  go. 

One  Saturday  evening  in  October,  I  think  it  was  1909,  Bro. 
Talton  came  in  haste  and  said,  "  Sister  Goff,  my  little  girl  has 
drunk  box  lye,  and  is  suffering  awful;  come  at  once."  I  closed 
the  doors;  as  I  shut  the  hall  door  the  Lord  seemed  to  say,  "  If 
they  drink  any  deadly  thing,  it  shall  not  hurt  them."  When  I 
went  in,  the  child  was  vomiting;  her  lips  were  swollen  almost  if 
not  quite  an  inch  thick.  Brother  Talton  was  crying,  and  said, 
among  the  groans  of  the  saints  and  cries  of  the  family,  "  O  Lord! 
you  know  how  her  little  stomach  is  being  eaten  by  this  poison." 
God  made  me  say,  "  No,  she's  being  healed  by  God's  mighty 
power."  Some  said,  "  She  will  never  swallow  and  digest  her  food 
again  if  she  lives."  I  never  could  pray  for  her  with  victory  again. 
Every  time  I  would  start,  God  would  say,  "  Praise  Me  for  heal- 
ing; it's  done."   In  a  few  days  I  saw  the  child,  and  she  was  eat- 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


59 


ing,  and  was  as  fine  a  child  as  you  ever  saw.  Just  a  miracle, 
that's  all. 

Again,  a  boy  ran  here  at  dark  and  said,  "  Sister  Culbreth  is 
dying."  I  ran  as  fast  as  I  could,  praying  all  the  way,  "  O  God 
rebuke  death!  Spare  that  mother  of  the  Falcon  camp  meeting 
and  holiness  school!"  As  many  read  this  know,  Brother  Cul- 
breth and  wife  have  prayed  out  a  camp  meeting,  orphanage, 
holiness  school,  and  have  prayed  many  families  here  to  help 
run  this  work  of  God.  When  I  reached  the  room  she  looked 
almost  like  a  dead  woman;  the  room  was  full  of  saints  crying 
to  God.  Her  children  were  weeping  with  breaking  hearts.  I  got 
the  witness  in  five  minutes  with  many  others  that  in  heaven  the 
work  was  done  and  began  in  the  Spirit  to  sing  it.  She  opened 
her  eyes,  began  to  praise  God.  The  power  struck  her  and  she 
began  to  speak  as  the  Spirit  gave  utterance.  When  Brother 
Culbreth  got  home  she  was  healed,  and  went  to  Sunday  school 
next  day. 

Many  things  we  have  seen  here.  Children  healed  instantly 
of  fever.  Two  of  Brother  Lee's  boys  were  taken.  Fred  had 
been  sick  three  days.  They  called  the  saints;  the  fever  left  as 
it  did  Peter's  mother-in-law.  He  was  well.  For  the  first  three 
years  we  lived  here,  a  band  of  over  a  hundred;  only  two  deaths 
occurred  among  us.  They  were  babies.  Contagious  diseases 
have  been  driven  from  us.  We  have  been  blessed,  O!  so  wonder- 
fully!   God  be  glorified!    O!  Praise  Him! 

In  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  you  can  call  for  prayer  for  a 
sick  one  and  have  a  number  of  Holy  Ghost  people  who  believe 
God  is  alive,  and  that  His  ear  is  open  to  our  cry.  Thank  God 
for  Falcon.  Lord,  keep  us  clean  and  humble.  We  will  outshine 
the  sun  by  and  by. 

Since  I  asked  the  readers  of  my  father's  life  to  join  me  in 
prayer  for  the  salvation  of  my  brothers,  I  can  tell  you  I  was 
made  glad  indeed  in  the  month  of  January,  1909,  to  see  them 
all  wonderfully  saved  and  all  sanctified  except  one.  The  Lord 
gave  us  a  most  blessed  revival  at  Hodges1  Chapel.  That  winter 
there  I  saw  demons  cast  out  as  in  Jesus'  time,  and  those  who 
were  possessed  with  them  fell  on  the  floor  and  wallowed  and 
foamed  at  the  mouth  just  as  the  Bible  gives  cases  when  the  devil 


60 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


was  rebuked  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  One  boy  arose  and  jumped 
to  be  sure  three  feet,  and  tried  to  climb  a  post  in  the  church. 
His  brother  fell  on  the  floor,  and  said  screaming  that  he  was 
devil  possessed.  They  were  cast  out  and  he  was  delivered.  Con- 
fessions were  made  of  many  things.  One  boy  threw  six  dollars 
at  different  ones  in  the  church  and  was  set  free.  How  he  shouted! 
It  was  heaven  to  me. 

My  youngest  sister  said  she  was  converted  at  the  head  of 
father's  coffin.  He  said  they  would  come  in  if  it  was  at  his  fu- 
neral or  when  the  grass  grew  on  his  grave.  His  prayers  are  liv- 
ing and  being  answered  in  my  life  today.  I  have  often  thought 
one  reason  why  people  have  carried  me  and  my  children,  and 
given  to  us  so,  was  because  father  used  to  run  a  free  wagon  from 
year  to  year  to  church  and  Sunday  school;  fed  the  poor  from 
his  barn  and  smokehouse;  never  was  one  turned  away.  He  be- 
lieved and  lived  the  old  Book.  The  Bible  says  the  iniquities  of 
the  fathers  will  be  visited  upon  the  children,  and  I  know  it  also 
says,  "  I  have  never  seen  the  righteous  forsaken,  nor  his  seed 
begging  bread,"  and  I  believed  that.  Glory! 

Once  when  the  twins  were  a  week  old,  and  I  in  bed,  Row- 
land's last  pair  of  everyday  pants  gave  out.  I  saw  the  colored 
woman  trying  to  mend  them.  I  said,  "  Lord,  send  these  children 
some  readymade  clothes."  The  prayer  was  not  answered  as  soon 
as  I  thought  it  would  be;  but  I  waited  patiently  on  the  Lord,  and 
He  brought  it  to  pass.  Glory!  A  neighbor  came  over  with  five 
pairs  of  pants  and  two  knickerbocker  suits.  I  thought  that  was 
good,  but  in  a  few  days  I  received  a  card  from  Brother  Daly, 
of  Kinston,  saying,  "  Call  at  the  express  office  for  a  box  of 
clothes  Eliza  felt  God  wanted  her  to  make  for  the  children." 
They  were  there,  prepaid,  sixty-two  pieces,  just  to  fit,  for  the 
twins,  ghis,  boys,  papa  and  me.  Glory!  I  cried,  laughed,  shout- 
ed, and  just  called  in  my  neighbors  to  help  me  rejoice.  Once  be- 
fore she  had  sent  me  twenty-two  readymade  pieces.  Those  peo- 
ple too  will  share  the  glory  at  the  crowning  day,  with  hundreds 
of  others  that  have  helped  us  to  spread  holiness  over  the  Caro- 
linas. 

I  used  to  want  my  husband  to  be  a  far-reaching,  from  Can- 
ada to  Cuba,  from  Maine  to  California,  preacher,  but  God  showed 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


61 


me  that  would  not  do,  years  before  Pentecost.  I  got  willing  for 
him  to  live  and  die  in  these  four  counties  if  God  said  so.  Our 
work  up  till  1910  or  1911  was  wholly  in  North  and  South  Car- 
olina, except  one  trip  when  God  led  husband  to  a  few  places  in 
Georgia. 

The  Lord  sent  Sister  Julia  Hough  one  May  to  keep  house 
for  us.  She  was  a  fine  missionary,  and  we  had  fine  meetings  in 
South  Carolina.  God  gave  revivals  at  every  place.  The  meet- 
ing at  Lake  City  was  not  so  good,  but  several  were  blessed.  One 
wonderful  case  of  salvation.  Out  in  the  country,  two  miles  from 
Lake  City,  God  gave  wonderful  victory;  about  sixty,  I  think, 
were  saved,  reclaimed,  or  baptized  with  the  Spirit.  We  tried  to 
close  the  meeting,  but  forty  were  at  the  altar  screaming,  "  Lord, 
save  me!  "  One  would  get  through,  and  for  about  a  minute  from 
twelve  to  fifteen  would  shout,  then  go  down  and  pray  another 
one  through,  then  shout.  For  four  hours  that  altar  service  ran. 
No  preacher  could  have  preached  there  that  night  without  re- 
sisting God's  Spirit,  and  I  doubt  if  that  had  stopped  it.  We 
carried  the  meeting  on  another  week,  and  left  twenty-five  or 
more  seeking  God.  The  farmers  had  gone  to  meeting  then,  some 
of  them,  five  weeks  in  May  and  June,  and  it  rainy  too;  it  meant 
a  victory,  though.  We  left  the  church  one  night,  and  I  started 
to  retire;  we  heard  somebody  west  of  the  house  about  a  half  a 
mile,  praying  at  the  top  of  their  voice;  went  in  the  room,  and  east 
of  the  house  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  I  heard  another  praying, 
"  O  God,  do  give  him  the  Holy  Ghost!  "  I  felt  good,  went  to 
sleep,  and  let  God  work.  I  had  done  all  I  felt  like  the  Lord 
wanted  me  to  do,  that  night. 

God  gave  us  a  good  meeting  at  Clinton,  S.  C,  and  at  Long 
E ranch  too.  At  Clinton  the  Methodist  and  Baptist  preachers 
helped  in  the  meetings.  The  Baptist  preacher  let  us  in  the  large, 
fashionable  church  to  baptize  some  candidates,  and  was  very 
kind  to  us.   They  were  a  clever  people  anyway. 

Sister  Hough  stayed  with  us  until  October.  I  went  for  God 
all  summer.  How  He  did  bless!  Never  failed  to  give  us  souls 
any  place.  When  she  was  called  home,  I  had  to  take  mamma's 
place  again.  I  love  home  as  well  as  you  do,  mothers,  but  I  told 
God  to  sanctify  me  and  I  would  follow  Him.    God  did,  and  I 


62 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


have  done  the  best  I  knew  since  I  was  fifteen  years  old.  I  went 
with  father  until  I  married,  and  then  father,  Henry  and  I  went 
together  a  good  deal.  I  would  rather  win  souls  than  dig  for 
gold,  or  be  queen,  or  any  such  thing.  But  when  the  way  is 
closed  to  go,  I  am  just  as  happy  at  home,  washing  for  school- 
boys, scrubbing,  hoeing  cotton,  pulling  corn,  or  anything,  Lord. 
I  am  having  a  good  time. 

The  convention  that  was  to  consolidate  the  two  churches, 
held  in  January.  1911,  was  preceded  by  a  revival  held  in  the  tab- 
ernacle by  Brother  A.  G.  Canada.  I  was  delighted  at  the  thought 
of  a  meeting.  I  planned  to  go,  but  the  day  it  was  to  begin  the 
next,  I  arose  early,  going  to  work  hard  and  get  ready  for  the 
meeting.  In  a  few  moments  I  was  taken  with  a  trouble  that  often 
kills  mothers.  For  months  my  health  had  ben  perfect,  rarely  an 
ache  or  pain;  was  on  top;  had  the  victory  over  disease,  and  sin, 
and  was  happy.  My  condition  became  alarming,  and  the  devil 
said,  "  You  will  be  dead  in  a  few  minutes.''  I  said,  "  Thank 
God.  I  am  ready,  but  I  will  trust  God  and  not  be  afraid/'  My 
husband  and  another  preacher  soon  came  in  the  house.  I  told 
them  to  pray,  and  in  ten  minutes  relief  came,  without  enough 
pain  to  mention.  The  neighbors  said,  "Lie  still;  don't  stir." 
God  said,  "  I  have  healed  you;  arise  in  My  strength,"  and  I  did. 
It  frightened  some.  I  went  to  meeting,  went  to  cooking.  God 
gave  me  my  strength  at  the  church.  While  I  was  dancing  some 
of  the  women  trembled  for  me.  It  was  God.  He  can  do  any- 
thing. I  was  told  not  to  stir  for  a  week;  to  lie  still.  I  did  not  do 
so  for  a  day;  went  to  work  second  day;  to  church,  where  God's 
honor  dwelleth,  the  fourth  day.  There  He  gave  me  my  strength. 
I  cooked  for  from  twelve  to  sixteen  during  convention,  and  was 
as  well  as  I  ever  was.  The  second  week  I  washed  178  pieces, 
fixed  three  meals,  went  to  prayer  meeting  that  night  feeling  good. 
Glory!  All  the  doctors  in  the  world  could  not  have  given  me 
my  health.  God  did.  Oh,  glory!  I  will  love  Him,  I  will  praise 
Him  till  life  is  over.  Then  I  hope  to  meet  you,  dear  reader, 
in  glory. 

In  the  spring  of  1911  we  had  a  meeting  near  the  home  of  Bro. 
Merritt  Whittenton,  about  three  miles  from  Dunn,  N.  C.  A  few 
days  before  this  meeting  began,  one  of  our  boys  was  taken  with 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


03 


pneumonia.  For  four  nights  we  were  compelled  to  sit  up  with 
him,  as  he  was  seriously  ill.  On  the  night  before  we  were  to  leave 
to  begin  the  meeting,  we,  with  several  friends,  prayed  if  it  was 
Gods  will  for  us  to  begin  it,  to  heal  the  boy,  and  we  would  go. 

The  next  morning  he  arose,  feeling  well.  He  dressed  and 
walked  around  as  usual,  except  that  he  was  pale  and  weak.  My 
husband  prepared  to  go,  but  I  decided  that  I  had  better  stay  at 
home  until  he  was  stronger.  About  10  o'clock  Myrtle  ran  home 
from  school  and  said,  "  Mamma,  why  don't  you  get  ready  and 
go?  You  told  God  you  would  go  if  He  would  heal  Ranee.  If 
you  don't  get  ready  and  go,  he  will  be  sick  again."  I  hurried  off 
in  about  thirty  minutes.  We  put  up  the  tent  and  began.  One 
poor  drunkard  was  saved,  gave  a  bright  testimony,  and  within 
three  weeks  was  dead.  He  was  baptized  by  my  husband,  took 
communion,  washed  feet,  and  in  two  weeks  was  taken  sick  and 
died,  leaving  good  hopes.  The  last  night  of  the  meeting  he  took 
me  by  the  hand  and  said,  "  It  was  your  prayers  that  reached  my 
heart."  These  words  have  been  a  tonic  to  my  faith.  Many 
times  when  I  have  been  discouraged,  I  think  of  Rob  Ryals  being 
in  heaven,  and  he  said  it  was  my  prayers  brought  him  to  Jesus. 

In  this  same  meeting  Albert  Butler  was  saved,  and  John  Rich 
Jernigan  was  called  to  preach.  They  have  'been  preaching  a  full 
gospel  ever  since. 

Before  this  meeting  closed,  Myrtle  took  typhoid  fever  and  had 
two  hemorrhages.  Sister  Annie  Register  and  my  sister  Dora 
were  with  her.  They  had  nursed  Myrtle  with  the  best  of  care. 
The  saints  had  prayed,  but  she  had  net  eaten  anything  for  seven 
days  except  one  spoonful  of  chicken  broth,  and  some  orange  juice. 
Ice  was  all  she  wanted.  Two  persons  were  required  to  keep  her 
on  the  bed,  she  was  in  such  a  restless  condition.  We  came  home 
and  prayed  for  her.  Husband  went  back  to  the  meeting,  but  I 
stayed,  as  I  thought  she  was  too  sick  for  me  to  leave.  On  Tues- 
day afternoon,  about  four  o'clock,  she  arose  and  said,  "  I  am 
healed."  She  had  had  the  hemorrhages  that  morning,  so  I  said 
to  her,  "  You  must  eat  something."  She  ate  a  bowfulful  of  chicken 
soup  with  bread,  like  someone  famished.  She  then  wanted  to  go 
to  Sister  Taylor's  for  some  strawberries,  which  Sister  Taylor  had 
promised  to  give  her  when  she  got  well.    Myrtle  said  she  was 


64 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


well,  but  Sister  Dora  siad,  "  Don't  you  dare  let  her  go.  She  will 
die  on  the  way."  I  said,  "  I  will  not  pray  for  healing  and  then 
get  scared  when  it  comes."  She  went,  and  got  a  quart  of  straw- 
berries and  ate  them.  That  night  she  went  with  me  to  the  prayer 
meeting,  and  the  next  day  she  and  I  left  for  the  tent  meeting. 
She  was  well  from  that  day  and  hour.  When  we  got  to  God- 
win, where  we  boarded  the  train  for  Dunn,  Mr.  Dean,  a  mer- 
chant, asked  me  if  that  was  the  child  they  had  got  so  much  ice 
for  from  him.  I  said  it  was.  He  said,  "  I  declare,  that  is  a  mir- 
acle." He  seemed  pleased  very  much  over  her  healing,  even 
though  he  was  a  Primitive  Baptist. 

In  the  spring  of  this  same  year,  the  smallpox  broke  out  in 
Falcon.  Lattie  Culbreth  took  this  disease,  and  was  carried  to 
the  home  of  Mr.  Jesse  Starling,  about  one  mile  from  here,  where 
there  were  four  cases.  Brother  J.  A.  Culbreth  went  every  day  to 
look  after  them  until  they  were  well.  It  had  been  a  great  while 
since  the  others  had  been  well,  and  we  thought  that  Brother  Cul- 
breth would  not  have  the  smallpox,  but  he  was  taken  sick,  and 
had  a  very  high  fever.  We  went  to  pray  for  him,  and  nearly  a 
hundred  people  went  to  see  him  before  he  was  broken  out.  The 
saints  met  every  morning  and  prayed  for  God  to  rebuke  the  dis- 
ease, and  He  did.    O'nly  five  had  the  smallpox  in  the  village. 

We  were  holding  a  meeting  in  Lake  City,  S.  C,  in  the  spring 
or  in  June  of  191 1.  It  was  so  dry  that  the  cotton  would  not  come 
up.  We  called  a  fast  day  to  pray  for  rain.  My  husband  testi- 
fied that  it  would  rain  before  night,  but  the  wind  was  high  and 
there  was  no  sign  of  rain.  He  fell  on  his  knees  at  four  o'clock 
and  told  God  he  wanted  rain.  It  thundered  before  he  got  up 
from  prayer,  and  before  he  could  pull  a  carriage  under  the  shel- 
ter, he  was  wet.  We  went  to  church  that  night  through  mud  and 
water,  instead  of  the  cloud  of  dust  that  had  been  for  weeks. 

We  went  from  Matthews'  Tabernacle,  near  Lake  City,  S.  C, 
to  Vox.,  S.  C,  and  had  a  good  meeting  at  this  place. 

In  the  winter  of  1913,  my  husband  spent  two  months  away 
from  home.  He  preached  in  Georgia,  Tennessee,  Alabama  and 
Missouri.  While  he  was  away  from  home,  a  lady  from  Scotland 
Co.,  N.  C,  came  for  me  to  go  down  there  to  pray  for  a  sick 
woman,  and  also  to  have  some  services.    I  got  Sister  Annie  Reg- 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


65 


ister  to  keep  house  while  I  was  away.  I  took  Sister  Georgiana 
Stewart  and  went.  We  had  meeting  in  a  private  home  at  first, 
but  it  was  unable  to  accommodate  the  people.  I  went  to  Wright's 
Chapel  Free-Will  Baptist  church  for  services,  where  several  were 
saved.   I  had  a  very  good  meeting  at  this  place. 

The  Methodists  invited  me  to  their  church,  which  at  that 
time  was  without  a  permanent  pastor.  Here  I  saw  the  power  of 
God  manifested  in  an  extraordinary  way.  Strong  men  lay  on 
the  floor  and  screamed  and  cried  until  late  hours  in  the  night. 
The  whole  community  was  affected,  and  many  were  saved,  sancti- 
fied and  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost.  One  farmer  walked 
twelve  miles  to  attend  this  meeting,  and  of  course  he  was  blessed. 
As  soon  as  my  husband  arrived  at  home,  he  went  down  to  this 
place  by  urgent  request  of  the  people,  and  many  turned  unto 
the  Lord. 

In  a  few  months  we  returned  to  this  place  and  found  that 
the  conference  had  sent  a  pastor  to  this  people,  and  the  following 
notice  was  tacked  on  the  door  of  the  church : 

"  No  Admittance  to  Pentecostal  People." 

We  had  service  in  the  Free-Will  Baptist  Church,  and  since 
then  we  have  held  a  tent  meeting  down  there,  but  have  never 
been  allowed  in  the  Methodist  church  since. 

Our  second  girl,  Bliss,  learned  to  play  an  instrument  at  ten 
years  of  age,  did  her  papa's  laundry  and  mending,  and  was  his 
organist  during  vacation.  Sometimes  I  could  go  with  him,  but 
most  of  the  time  home  duties  kept  me. 

On  December  24,  1913,  my  father-in-law  fell  dead  in  the 
woods.  He  had  his  gun  and  dogs  with  him.  His  bird  dog  stayed 
by  him  for  twenty-two  hours,  till  a  searching  party  of  over  a 
hundred  men  found  his  body.  The  men  had  searched  all  night, 
and  found  him  about  two  o'clock  on  Christmas  Day.  It  was  a 
sad  Christmas  for  us.  He  was  saved  under  my  husband's  min- 
istry after  he  began  to  preach  in  1896.  He  had  been  a  slave  to 
tobacco  and  a  bad  drunkard,  but  never  touched  whiskey,  tobacco 
or  coffee  after  he  was  saved.  He  hated  whiskey  as  bad  as  did 
Sam  Jones;  he  told  people  of  the  sums  of  money  he  had  spent, 
of  the  narrow  escapes  he  had  from  death,  and  of  the  suffering 


66 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


he  had  caused  his  family.  A  house  was  blown  down  on  him  by 
a  storm  about  a  year  before  he  died.  This  came  very  near 
killing  him.  The  doctor  offered  whiskey  to  him,  as  he  was  so 
near  dead  when  they  cleared  the  wreckage  of  the  house  from 
his  body.  He  refused  to  take  the  whiskey  and  told  the  doctor 
that  he  would  die  sober,  and  he  did.  He  was  a  successful  farmer, 
and  if  he  had  been  saved  twenty  years  before  there  is  no  doubt 
but  what  he  would  have  become  a  rich  man,  but  while  in  sin  he 
wasted  his  earnings  in  fights  and  law-suits.  He  always  pitied  the 
poor  and  homeless.  He  took  four  old  folks  to  his  home  and  kept 
them.  He  was  as  kind  to  them  as  he  was  to  his  own  family.  He 
was  very  fond  of  his  grandchildren,  and  to  go  to  grandpa's  was 
their  delight.  He  lost  thousands  of  dollars  by  signing  notes 
with  people  and  then  having  them  to  pay.  He  took  ten  bales  of 
cotton  from  his  family  to  pay  one  note  for  a  man  that  never 
tried  to  pay  him  back.  He  helped  the  same  man  time  and  time 
again  till  the  man  died.  After  he  died  the  farm  was  sold  for 
division,  and  his  widow  and  youngest  son  came  to  live  with  us. 

In  1914  the  Mexican  uprising  set  in.  My  brother-in-law, 
Billie,  enlisted  in  the  army  and  went  to  the  border  as  a  guard. 
He  took  cold,  which  developed  into  pneumonia.  They  brought 
him  to  Goldsboro,  N.  C,  to  the  Spicer  Sanatorium.  He  lingered 
on  for  six  weeks,  and  the  disease  went  into  tuberculosis.  He  had 
smoked  cigarettes  until  his  lungs  were  too  weak  to  withstand 
this  attack.  His  mother  watched  him  night  and  day.  He  prayed 
and  begged  God  to  save  him.  He  told  my  husband  that  there 
was  nothing  between  him  and  God.  He  warned  the  soldiers  that 
visited  him  to  stop  smoking.  He  was  singing,  "  O  Lord,  Send  the 
Power  Just  Now."  The  singing  stopped;  the  singer  was  gone. 
A  young  man,  just  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  and  in  the  bloom  of 
life,  had  departed  from  this  life.  He  told  his  mother  to  tell  the 
boys  not  to  smoke;  the  smoking  of  cigarettes  had  killed  him. 
On  June  11,  1917,  he  died.  He  was  buried  with  high  military 
honors  in  the  old  family  graveyard,  with  his  father. 

My  husband  and  Bliss  were  in  a  meeting  at  Robersonville,  N. 
C.  At  this  place  the  pastor  of  the  "  Campbellite  "  or  Disciple 
Church  went  for  him  through  the  pulpit  and  the  press,  and  kept 
every  one  away  that  he  could.   My  husband  replied  to  the  article 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


67 


of  this  preacher  in  the  paper,  and  then  the  preacher  "  shut  up." 
As  a  rule  the  girls  of  a  town  treat  our  girls  very  nice,  but  in  this 
town  Bliss  did  not  meet  a  girl  except  in  the  home  of  a  Mr.  Moorer 
where  they  were  entertained. 

In  June,  1925,  my  husband  went  to  Winston-Salem,  N.  C,  to* 
hold  a  tent  meeting;  one  in  West  Winston  and  one  in  East  or 
South  Winston.  He  had  a  wonderful  meeting.  At  the  last  named 
place  a  very  strange  thing  happened.  One  night  while  my  hus- 
band was  preaching  a  sermon  on  "  The  Judgment,"  a  well 
dressed,  pretty  girl  threw  up  her  hands  and  began  to  scream. 
She  ran  over  seats,  over  folks  and  fell  prostrate  at  the  altar. 
She  began  crying  just  as  if  she  saw  hell.  She  prayed  for  quite 
a  while  and  seemed  to  be  saved.  She  and  her  husband  were 
separated;  her  parents  had  her  children  in  the  country,  and  her 
husband  was  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  She  began  to  pray' for  God 
to  bring  him  to  that  meeting.  On  Sunday  night,  as  the  meeting 
was  closing,  I  saw  her  go  to  a  well  dressed  young  man  who  was 
standing  at  the  back  of  the  tent.  He  came  to  the  altar  and 
prayed  and  cried  for  some  time.  Soon  they  left  the  tent  together, 
but  there  was  some  trouble  that  was  never  settled.  In  a  few 
days  after  we  got  home  a  friend  from  Winston-Salem  sent  me  a 
clipping  from  a  paper  which  gave  an  account  of  the  suicide  com- 
mitted by  this  young  woman.  This  young  woman  reached  her 
death  by  throwing  herself  in  front  of  a  street  car  as  it  was  going 
down  grade. 

In  the  fall  of  1915  my  husband  held  meetings  in  Florida,  at 
Bristol  and  Tallahassee.  He  had  a  public  debate  with  a  preacher 
that  belonged  to  the  M.  E.  Church.  They  debated  in  the  court 
house  on  the  subject  of  "  Pentecost."  My  husband  had  a  terrible 
case  of  sore  eyes,  and  debated  blind-folded,  but  he  won  in  the 
debate,  although  suffering  in  agony  with  his  eyes.  He  had  a 
new  experience  at  Bristol.  Judge  Owens,  a  Pentecostal  man, 
was  trying  the  case  of  a  boy,  eighteen  years  old,  who  had  stolen 
a  watch  and  was  carrying  a  pistol.  He  had  no  lawyers  to  plead 
his  case,  was  motherless,  a  long  way  from  home,  and  he  looked 
so  young  and  pitiful.  This  sight  touched  my  husband's  heart. 
He  arose  and  asked  permission  to  speak,  and  soon  he  had  the 
court  room  in  tears.   He  called  them  all  to  prayer,  and  the  boy 


68 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


got  off  for  almost  nothing.  His  father  couldn't  thank  husband 
enough,  and  the  boy  was  glad,  too. 

In  the  fall  of  1916  husband  was  engaged  in  meetings  in 
Florida.  On  this  trip  he  held  the  Camp  Meeting  at  Wetumpka. 
While  he  was  away  our  four-year-old  son,  Henry  Hood,  took 
pneumonia  and  spinal  meningitis.  He  had  twenty  fits  in  fifteen 
hours.  The  saints  were  called;  they  prayed  all  night  and  until 
two  o'clock  the  next  day.  Brother  Culbreth  asked  God  to  give 
power  to  some  one  in  the  room  to  rebuke  this  awful  disease  that 
we  all  seemed  powerless  over.  In  a  minute  the  power  struck 
Sister  Mattie  E.  Virden;  she  ran  to  the  boy,  began  to  rub  him 
under  the  power  of  God;  and  he  was  having  a  fit  at  this  time. 
He  opened  his  eyes,  smiled,  and  called  for  water.  Sister  Virden 
said,  "  He  will  never  have  another  fit."  He  jias  never  had  a  fit 
since.  He  was  helpless  and  had  a  fever  for  sixty  days;  pus 
gathered  in  his  side ;  he  was  crooked  and  deformed,  and  he  looked 
like  a  corpse  walking  around.  He  was  unable  to  turn  over  in 
bed.  One  morning  at  our  breakfast  table  husband  was  praying 
for  him,  husband  said,  "  I'll  never  look  at  him  crooked  any  more. 
He  is  straight  in  the  name  of  Jesus."  He  was  soon  well.  He  is 
now  ten  years  old,  and  we  have  to  buy  fourteen-year-old  size 
of  clothes  for  him.  Two  doctors  in  Dunn  told  me  that  he  was 
one  out  of  a  thousand  that  ever  got  well;  most  all  of  these  were 
deformed  in  some  way,  and  even  their  mind  was  affected. 

Brother  A.  E.  Robinson's  child  was  healed  after  having 
nineteen  fits,  and  is  now  a  bright,  healthy  boy. 

In  the  early  spring  of  1915,  I  think,  a  Sister  Woolard,  of 
South  Creek,  N.  C,  wrote  my  husband  to  go  down  there  and 
hold  a  meeting  in  a  Free-Will  Baptist  Church.  The  membership 
of  this  church  had  gone  down  and  they  had  no  pastor.  The 
community  was  thickly  settled,  almost  a  village.  Husband  went; 
walked  down  the  road  and  made  his  own  appointment.  Several 
came  for  the  first  service,  and  in  a  few  days  they  began  to  seek 
the  Lord  and  many  found  Jesus.  Since  then  two  churches  have 
been  organized  as  a  result  of  that  meeting,  and  Brothers  Canada, 
Mayo  and  J.  D.  Messick,  Jr.,  have  been  called  to  preach.  Young 
Brother  Messick  has  been  in  school  since  his  conversion.  Six 
years  ago  he  came  to  Falcon  and  entered  school  here  in  the  eighth 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


69 


grade.  He  finished  High  School,  caught  one  term  of  school  here, 
went  to  Elon  College  and  graduated  this  year  (1922).  Young 
Messick  is  a  fine  musician,  has  a  well  trained  voice,  is  a  good 
preacher  and  school  teacher. 

One  thing  of  interest  that  occured  at  Organ,  or  South  Creek, 
is  given  below.  A  well-to-do  man  let  husband  preach  in  a  hall 
over  his  store,  and  in  a  few  months  he  gave  husband  about  a 
hundred  dollars.  One  day  Mr.  Martin  said  to  husband;  "  Mr. 
Goff,  it  pays  me  to  let  you  preach  here.  Folks  that  have  been 
saved  in  your  meeting  have  brought  back  so  much  stuff  that  they 
stole  from  me.  A  logging  outfit  that  cost  me  one  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars  has  been  returned,  besides  lots  of  other  things." 

On  January  8,  1916,  while  husband  was  holding  meetings  in 
Florida,  our  old  fatherly  friend,  Doctor  Rowland,  died.  He 
had  nursed  me  at  the  birth  of  my  children,  put  nine  stitches  in 
my  arm  where  a  dog  bit  me,  nursed  me  after  I  came  from  the 
hospital,  and  brought  husband  home  from  the  depot  every  time  he 
found  him  with  no  way  to  get  home,  for  eight  years.  He  had  us 
at  his  home  for  weeks  at  a  time  when  we  held  meetings  in  Benson, 
N.  C.  He  gave  us  money,  and  never  charged  us  a  cent  for  the 
many  things  he  did  for  us.  His  health  failed  several  years  be- 
fore he  died,  and  for  much  of  his  time  he  was  unable  to  practise 
at  all.  He  went  from  one  hospital  to  another  until  everything 
was  gone.  He  lost  his  home  where  he  sheltered  so  many  of  God's 
people,  peddlers,  tramps  and  the  poor  of  all  kinds;  he  treated 
all  of  these  people  kindly.  He  was  the  finest  Hebrew  and  Greek 
scholar  I  ever  saw;  had  the  greatest  pity  for  the  poor  and  ignor- 
ant. He  much  preferred  hearing  a  preacher,  who  probably  could 
not  read  his  text  correctly  and  had  the  power  of  God  with  him, 
than  to  hear  a  D.  D.  who  had  the  letter  and  no  power. 

Dr.  Rowland  was  the  first  man  I  ever  saw  with  a  copy  of  a 
holiness  paper.  He  was  the  first  man  I  ever  heard  talk  about 
holiness  and  divine  healing.  He  said  he  wished  everybody  would 
trust  the  Lord  for  the  healing  of  their  bodies,  even  if  he  had 
to  grub  for  a  living.  Very  often  he  prayed  for  his  patients, 
carried  my  husband  and  other  holiness  preachers  to  pray  for 
many  of  his  patients.  Once  after  we  moved  to  Falcon,  he  phoned 
to  me  to  come  to  Benson  and  pray  for  one  of  his  patients  that 


70 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


was  given  up  to  die  with  pellagra.  I  went  and  prayed  for  the 
man.  Doctor  told  the  man  how  sick  he  had  seen  me  and  how 
God  raised  me  up  in  answer  to  prayer.  The  sick  man  recovered, 
and  was  working  for  his  living  the  last  I  heard  of  him.  That 
has  been  thirteen  years  ago.  When  I  received  the  message  that 
doctor  was  dead  I  had  just  enough  cash  for  my  carfare  to  Benson, 
and  back.  I  made  ready  and  started  to  go  and  met  Myrtle  com- 
ing with  the  mail.  In  the  mail  was  a  letter,  with  five  dollars 
enclosed,  from  Dr.  Tuton,  of  Bristol,  Florida.  The  money  was 
a  New  Year's  gift  to  me.  At  once  I  resolved  to  place  it  on  Dr. 
Rowland's  funeral  expenses.  After  Brother  Charlie  Johnson 
was  through  preaching  the  funeral  sermon,  I  asked  for  a  few 
words.  I  told  the  people  how  hard  it  would  be  for  this  widow 
and  two  small  children  to  pay  these  expenses.  I  laid  my  $5.00 
on  the  casket  and  called  for  a  song.  While  they  sang,  enough 
cash  was  put  on  that  casket  to  pay  for  the  lot,  to  pay  the  grave- 
digger,  to  pay  for  the  casket  and  get  a  headstone  to  mark  his 
resting  place.  I  spent  the  night  after  the  funeral  with  Brother 
Oscar  Johnson.  He  arose  early  on  Monday  morning  and  went 
down  town.  When  he  came  back  he  said,  "  The  men  down  town 
have  sent  $6.00  they  want  you  to  have."  It  has  been  over  six 
years  since  Dr.  Rowland  died,  but  I  miss  him  yet  at  the  Camp 
Meeting.  He  was  always  here  as  long  as  he  was  able  to  attend. 
The  last  time  he  came  it  looked  as  if  he  would  die.  I  miss  him 
as  I  get  on  and  off  the  train  at  Benson.  He  helped  me  on  and  off 
that  train  for  years,  and  was  never  too  busy  to  help  people.  He 
did  not  regard  his  time,  money  or  life  if  any  one  was  suffering. 
Day  and  night  he  sat  over  sufferring  people  till  his  strength 
failed.  He  died  just  as  he  said  "Amen  "  to  Sister  Wilson's  prayer. 

For  three  or  four  years  in  succession,  in  the  month  of  October, 
husband  held  meetings  in  Little  Rock,  S.  C,  at  the  invitation  of 
our  dear  friend,  Bro.  W.  T.  Huggins.  He  was  a  leader  in  the 
Baptist  church  there,  but  he  loved  holiness,  and  sought  it.  He 
sent  his  daughter  here  to  school.  When  she  was  leaving  he  told 
her  goodbye  and  said,  "  I  hope  you  will  get  the  experience  of 
holiness."  She  did  in  a  revival  held  here  during  the  term  of 
school  she  was  here.  One  day  she  was  summoned  home  to  the 
bedside  of  her  father.   In  a  few  days  he  went  to  his  reward.  He 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


71 


died  on  October  IS,  1918.  He  fed  the  poor  and  was  kind  to  all. 
About  twenty  years  ago  he  was  married  and  took  his  wife  to  a 
rented  home  on  a  borrowed  buggy.  When  he  died  he  left  his 
widow  one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  which  he  made  by  hard 
labor  and  good  management.  He  would  entertain  all  the  workers 
we  carried  as  long  as  we  would  stay.  Although  he  had  over 
four  hundred  acres  of  cotton  to  look  after,  he  had  time  to  take 
us  on  his  car  anywhere  we  wanted  to  go,  and  bring  us  home, 
most  a  hundred  miles.  He  gave  us  anywhere  from  ten  to  fifty 
dollars  each  meeting.  His  influence  was  great.  We  closed  one 
meeting  in  the  Baptist  church  with  fifty  at  the  altar.  My  hus- 
band paid  a  man  fifteen  dollars  to  take  him  and  Myrtle  to  the 
funeral  of  Brother  Huggins. 

The  fall  of  1918  will  be  long  remembered  as  the  time  of  the 
great  epidemic  of  influenza,  which  swept  away  more  than  the 
war  had  killed.  We  had  a  hundred  cases  here  in  Falcon  during 
October,  and  forty  more  cases  in  December.  The  people  prayed, 
and  only  two  called  for  a  doctor.  We  only  had  two  deaths:  Bro- 
ther Griffin  and  Mr.  Bud  Johnson's  child  died.  Five  of  our  chil- 
dren had  it.  Eunice  had  three  fits  with  it,  but  we  had  prayer 
for  her  and  the  next  day  she  was  up  begging  for  butter  and 
biscuit.  There  were  so  many  sick  ones  and  so  many  calls  for 
prayer  that  I  would  go  to  one  place  and  husband  would  go  to 
another.  Professor  A.  C.  Holland  and  John  Messick  came  very 
near  dying.  I  went  to  the  dormitory  one  day  to  see  the  sick  folks, 
and  I  heard  someone  crying  and  groaning  in  a  very  distressing 
way.  I  asked  who  it  was,  and  was  told  that  it  was  Pierce  Brooks, 
a  boy  that  had  lived  with  us  for  almost  five  years.  I  went  up 
at  once  and  found  him  crazy  with  pain.  I  saw  that  if  he  didn't 
get  relief  he  would  go  into  fits,  so  I  sent  for  my  husband  and  his 
mother.  Before  his  mother  came,  the  Lord  had  touched  him.  He 
got  up  and  went  downstairs  to  cut  some  wood.  Brother  Bob 
Lee's  wife  was  healed  instantly,  also.  Many  were  afraid  to  go 
and  pray  for  the  sick  in  different  places,  but  we  had  only  a  few 
faint-hearted  ones  here.  I  didn't  ask  myself  if  I  would  have  it  or 
not;  I  thought  if  I  died,  I  would  die  at  my  post  of  duty.  I  would 
not  allow  my  neighbors  to  suffer  when  I  could  help  them.  In  one 
family  of  ten  near  Dunn  all  died  but  three.    In  another  family 


72 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


there  were  six  that  died.  What  an  awful  distressing  time!  Doc- 
tors were  sick,  and  some  died;  nurses  could  not  be  had  half 
enough,  and  people  died  in  many  places  from  neglect. 

After  many  struggles  to  keep  our  children  in  school,  our  three 
oldest  children  finished  high  school  here  in  1918.  That  same 
summer  Myrtle  went  to  Greenville,  N.  C,  to  the  Teachers  Train- 
ing School.  On  one  Saturday  night,  in  a  parlor  full  of  teachers, 
someone  asked  her  to  explain  her  leligious  belief.  She  enter- 
tained them  for  about  an  hour,  giving  them  Scripture  and  logic 
for  her  belief  in  Pentecost.  That  winter  Myrtle  taught  near 
Wallace,  N.  C,  and  Bliss  taught  near  Wrade.  Irene  and  Rowland 
went  to  Elon  College,  N.  C.  Pierce  Brooks  went  to  Asbury 
College  at  Wilmore,  Kentucky.  On  his  way  home  he  stopped  at 
Elon  to  see  them.  When  he  came  home  he  told  us  how  Rowland 
was  holding  up  to  the  college  boys  the  things  he  believed.  Though 
he  was  backslidden,  the  Lord  kept  him  from  having  pneumonia, 
when  they  wanted  to  force  him  to  have  a  doctor.  Irene  debated 
so  with  one  of  the  professors  on  the  Sunday  school  class  till  he 
decided  that  the  days  of  miracles  were  not  past.  He  decided 
she  would  do  to  debate  with  the  Junior  Class  the  next  year  in  the 
Junior-Senior  Debate.  In  the  debate  she  helped  to  win  over  the 
Seniors. 

Myrtle  took  typhoid  fever  in  August,  1919.  She  trusted 
God,  but  came  near  dying.  She  had  five  awful  hemorrhages  of 
the  bowels,  with  from  one  pint  to  half-gallon  of  clear  blood  in 
each.  One  day  Brother  Lewis  Jernigan  and  Wilbur  Godwin  came 
in  and  prayed  for  her.  They  commanded  her  to  get  out  of  bed 
in  Jesus'  name.  She  arose,  began  to  shout  and  speak  in  tongues. 
She  went  to  the  post  office,  and  in  a  few  days  was  able  to  go  to 
Dillon,  S.  C,  to  sing  in  her  papa's  meeting.  She  was  healed 
instantly  after  being  in  bed  for  thirty  days.  Brother  Lewis 
Jernigan's  daughter  was  also  healed  of  typhoid  fever  that  same 
summer. 

Husband  held  three  tent  meetings  in  Nash  County,  N.  C. 
In  October,  during  our  first  meeting  there,  we  came  home  from 
service  with  Brother  Joe  Dickens  one  night.  We  were  stopping 
with  him.  About  two  o'clock  that  night  Brother  Joe  knocked 
at  our  door  and  said:  "  Brother  Goff,  get  up!  I  never  saw  the 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


73 


clouds  look  so  queer.  It  looks  like  the  whole  element  is  on  fire." 
My  husband  went  out  and  came  back  in  the  room.  He  said, 
"A  terrible  storm  is  coming  up.  I'm  going  to  the  tent."  It  was 
two  miles  to  the  tent,  and  much  of  it  through  the  woods.  I 
begged  him  not  to  go,  but  Brother  Joe  took  the  lantern  and  away 
they  went.  The  storm  began  to  rage;  the  rain  fell  hard,  and  a 
strong  wind  was  blowing.  They  walked,  as  it  was  very  danger- 
ous to  have  a  team  out.  Bro.  Joe  came  home  the  next  day  about 
ten  o'clock.  The  storm  was  then  taking  up  big  trees  by  the  roots. 
It  was  so  bad  that  neither  Sister  Dickens  nor  I  dared  to  try  to  get 
to  the  kitchen;  no  one  was  hungry.  The  house  trembled  and 
shook.  It  raised  up  off  blocks  all  day  like  it  was  going.  Brother 
Joe  came  by  one  of  his  neighbors',  and  they  had  all  left  their 
house  and  had  taken  refuge  in  the  barn,  so  he  and  his  family 
decided  to  do  the  same  thing.  I  refused  to  leave  the  house, 
for  I  felt  that  God  could  take  care  of  me  as  good  in  the  house 
as  in  the  barn.  I  prayed  through  and  committed  tent,  husband, 
children,  own  life  and  all  to  God.  I  sang  that  sweet  old  hymn, 
"  Jesus,  Lover  of  My  Soul."  Yet  it  looked  as  if  the  house  was 
going,  over  and  over  again,  but  I  felt  a  secure  feeling  all  by 
myself.  I  lay  down  and  went  to  sleep,  and  about  four  o'clock 
that  afternoon  the  storm  ceased.  Brother  Joe  and  family  came 
out  of  the  barn,  and  husband  came,  but  he  had  been  drenched 
in  the  rain.  The  road  was  full  of  big  pine  trees,  but  the  tent  was 
safe  and  not  a  tree  fell  near  it. 

Husband  held  three  meetings  near  Four  Oaks,  N.  C,  and 
three  or  four  about  twelve  miles  from  here  on  the  highway  to 
Fayetteville,  «N.  C,  at  a  place  called  Mary's  Garden.  In  one  of 
these  meetings  two  men  made  friends  that  hadn't  spoken  to  each 
other  in  twenty  years.  Husband's  tent  was  up  at  this  place 
when  the  influenza  struck  this  part  of  the  country.  The  health 
officers  closed  all  public  gatherings,  and  in  three  weeks  seven- 
teen had  been  buried  in  a  country  graveyard  near  there. 

A  preacher  will  have  no  trouble  in  getting  folks  to  preach  to 
on  the  streets,  on  Saturday  afternoon  especially,  in  Four  Oaks, 
Benson,  Dunn,  and  Fayetteville,  N.  C,  and  Dillon,  S.  C;  but 
just  try  Lumberton,  N.  C,  and  Lake  City,  S.  C.  The  saints  and 
lots  of  colored  folks  and  farmers  will  listen,  but  the  city  folks  and 


74 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


ladies  at  Lumberton  and  Lake  City  seem  to  think  it  a  disgrace  to 
listen  to  the  gospel  on  the  streets.  It  is  so  different  in  the  North. 
We  spent  the  winter  of  1921-1922  in  the  North.  The  people 
will  stand  on  ice  and  listen  attentively  as  long  as  a  preacher  can 
stand.  They  did  when  it  was  below  zero;  even  ladies  and  their 
children  would  be  among  the  crowd. 

In  1918  and  1919  my  husband  pastored  Collier's  Chapel 
Free-Will  Baptist  Church.  One  Brother  Hare  took  sick  and  was 
sent  to  the  sanatorium  for  consumptives.  He  came  home  to  die. 
The  saints  prayed  for  him  and  he  was  saved.  He  wanted  to 
be  immersed;  my  husband  and  another  man  took  him  into  the 
water,  and  lots  of  people  expected  him  to  die  in  the  water;  to  the 
surprise  of  many  he  began  to  mend.  I  saw  him  a  year  after  that 
when  he  came  in  the  church.  I  didn't  know  him,  he  had  gained 
so  much  in  flesh;  he  had  gained  about  twenty  pounds  in  weight. 
In  the  same  year  Brother  Jesse  James  had  a  child  that  had 
whooping  cough  and  pneumonia,  and  on  top  of  that  took  the  flu. 
The  child  came  very  near  dying,  but  was  healed  in  answer  to 
prayer.  Sister  R.  H.  Allen  was  healed  of  gallstones.  She  had 
one  that  passed  in  answer  to  prayer ;  it  is  as  large  as  three  quarter 
dollars  placed  on  top  of  each  other. 

Since  our  marriage  husband  has  preached  some  very  sad  fu- 
nerals. In  the  month  of  August,  1899,  Jim  Tiner  shot  his 
mother  and  sister.  We  were  in  Johnston  County,  N.  C,  near  the 
Tiner  home,  having  services  in  the  Johnson  Union  church.  This 
boy  was  showing  another  boy  some  part  of  the  gun  that  needed 
to  be  fixed,  when  it  discharged  in  his  hand.  The  main  load  took 
effect  in  his  mother's  bowels,  and  ten  shot  went  into  his  sister's 
thigh  and  hand.  His  mother  lived  seven  days;  the  boy  fasted 
till  she  died.  We  visited  her,  and  she  left  good  hope  of  heaven. 
Husband  preached  her  funeral. 

On  July  25,  1903,  the  six-year-old  child  of  our  neighbor,  Ab 
Strickland,  was  killed  instantly  by  a  pile  of  twelve-inch  planks 
falling  on  her.  The  planks  were  piled  on  top  of  each  other  four 
feet  high.    Husband  preached  her  funeral. 

On  July  27,  1904,  Sue  Hodges  was  burned  to  death  in  trying 
to  make  the  fire  in  a  stove  burn.  Sue  took  a  can  of  oil,  poured 
over  the  fire,  which  bursted  the  can  in  her  hand.   She  died  that 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


75 


night.  It  was  a  sad  sight  to  look  upon.  She  was  fifteen  years 
old.  Husband  preached  her  funeral.  She  left  home  well  on  the 
Sunday  before,  and  was  going  to  spend  a  few  days  helping  her 
sister  can  fruit.  She  was  brought  back  home  in  a  beautiful  white 
casket.  About  twenty  young  people  sat  around  her  cold  and 
lifeless  form  that  night.  About  four  days  before  that,  she  was 
in  that  same  room  entertaining  them.   How  soon  we  can  die! 

On  February  12,  1909,  Jasper  Young's  father  left  home  to 
go  to  mill.  He  was  thrown  from  the  cart  and  was  instantly 
killed.  Husband  preached  his  funeral.  This  awful  tragedy 
might  have  helped  in  bringing  Jasper  to  Jesus.  He  is  now  a  holi- 
ness preacher. 

In  March,  1907,  husband  was  holding  a  meeting  at  Plain 
View  church,  in  Sampson  county,  N.  C.  The  power  fell  on  Bro- 
ther Macon  Cavenaugh.  He  prophesied  that  some  one  in  the 
church  would  be  dead  before  the  meeting  closed.  A  young  man 
by  the  name  of  Hare  turned  to  Miss  Bessie  Keen  and  said,  "  Do 
you  reckon  that's  me?  "  He  went  home  and  took  his  bed  with 
a  cold.  No  one  thought  him  seriously  ill.  On  the  closing  Sunday 
morning  he  called  his  mother  and  said  his  feet  were  cold.  Before 
something  could  be  warmed  to  be  placed  at  his  feet  he  was  dead. 
This  was  a  great  shock  to  the  community.  His  mother  received 
the  Holy  Ghost  on  Monday  night  after.  Husband  preached  his 
funeral. 

I  think  it  was  in  1912  that  Joel  Rhodes,  now  a  missionary  in 
Africa,  went  to  Vox,  S.  C,  with  my  husband.  He  helped  in  a 
meeting,  and  husband  went  back  with  "  Jody  "  at  Christmas  and 
married  him  to  Miss  Venia  Baxley,  a  sweet,  Holy- Ghost-filled 
girl.  Sister  Annie  Register  was  married  at  our  home  to  Rev 
A.  B.  Kanipe  in  May,  1913.  Their  marriage  was  almost  like 
that  of  Isaac  and  Rebecca.  They  were  introduced  to  each  other 
by  a  preacher,  corresponded  about  a  year,  and  married  in  four 
days  after  they  met.  Their  labor  in  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord 
has  been  greatly  blessed.  If  folks  would  only  let  God  select 
their  lifetime  companions,  much  heartache,  much  sorrow  and  all 
the  divorces  would  be  avoided.  So  many  young  Christians  go 
down  in  the  matrimonial  tide.  If  you  make  a  mistake  in  mating 
for  life,  you'd  better  be  dead.  Many  kill  themselves  or  their  com- 


76 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


panions.  Oh,  if  people  would  only  seek  God  first,  and  then  get 
His  will,  and  do  it!  It's  forbidden  in  God's  Word  for  a  Christian 
and  an  unbeliever  to  be  yoked  up.  Oh,  the  girl  says,  "  John,  or 
Will,  is  a  nice  boy.  He  likes  to  see  me  shout,  believes  in  holi- 
ness/' Yes,  I  even  knew  one  to  take  up  the  collection  for  a  holi- 
ness preacher  to  win  his  sister  that  sang  for  him.  After  their 
marriage  he  went  to  selling  whiskey,  and  never  goes  to  a  holiness 
church,  and  hasn't  been  for  years.  What  became  of  this  happy, 
shouting,  singing  evangelist?  She  got  worldly,  moved  into  a 
city,  goes  to  a  formal  church  once  in  a  while,  when  she  feels  good. 
Her  husband  stays  on  the  streets  or  at  home.  I  saw  another 
sinner  man  take  his  wife  out  of  meeting  one  night,  and  he  quar- 
relled with  her  all  night.  He  said  that  she  loved  the  holiness 
preachers  better  than  she  did  him.  He  kept  her  in  terror  of 
her  life  for  fifteen  years.  At  last  he  doctored  a  sick  horse  that 
went  mad  in  a  few  days  and  scared  him.  He  sent  for  the  holi- 
ness folks,  and  was  saved.  For  years  she  was  not  allowed  to  in- 
vite a  holiness  person  to  her  home.  He  objected  to  her  getting 
a  letter  from  her  father.  He  said  it  made  her  more  crazy  over 
holiness.    This  was  in  Moore  County,  N.  C. 

In  Johnston  County,  N.  C,  a  woman  got  sanctified,  and  her 
husband  told  her  if  she  went  to  the  tent  again  he  would  leave  her. 
She  quit  attending,  and  after  that  he  beat  her  most  to  death. 
She  has  never  been  to  a  holiness  meeting  since  as  I  have  ever 
heard  of,  and  she  never  won  this  fellow  to  Jesus. 

In  Duplin  County,  N.  C,  I  saw  a  brute  of  a  man  drag  his 
wife  from  the  altar  as  if  he  were  dragging  a  hog.  When  he  got 
her  out  of  church  he  laid  her  on  the  ground.  She  got  saved  on 
the  yard  where  he  laid  her.  If  he  had  been  saved  he  would  have 
been  glad,  but  the  devil  was  in  him  and  he  was  mad. 

I  heard  a  boy,  that  once  had  good  religion  and  married  a 
sinner,  say,  k'  I  have  plenty  of  this  world's  goods,  but  I  am  un- 
happy. My  wife  does  not  care  for  the  church  or  Sunday  school. '' 
How  can  two  walk  together  except  they  be  agreed?  You  might 
as  well  hitch  up  a  goat  and  a  sheep  together.  The  poor  sheep 
would  fare  badly,  and  quite  likely  lose  its  life.  Human  infatua- 
tion is  not  true  love.  A  well-dressed  young  man  meets  a  pretty 
little  "  butterfly  "  girl  and  loves  her  at  sight,  marries  in  three  or 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


77 


four  weeks,  and  they  part  in  a  year.  Hell  will  be  filled  with 
such  cases.  I'm  so  glad  I  gave  my  heart  to  Jesus  when  I  was 
eleven  years  old.  I  was  sanctified  at  fifteen,  prayed  more  over 
a  lifetime  companion  than  anything  to  that  time.  God  made 
me  a  worker  for  Jesus  and  gave  me  a  preacher.  My  father  was 
a  preacher.  I've  decided  they  are  the  best  folks  in  the  world, 
if  the  world  does  hate  them.  The  Bible  says,  "  How  beautiful 
are  the  feet  of  them  who  carry  the  gospel  of  peace."  Our  chil- 
dren may  forget  God  for  a  while,  but  one  thing  they  can't  forget 
is  the  Bible  reading  and  the  family  altar.  The  Bible  we  have 
taught  them,  the  godly  examples  we  have  set  before  them,  wiU 
follow  them  all  their  lives  wherever  they  go.  I  never  tell  my  chil- 
dren ghost  tales  and  stories  of  hobgoblins.  It  makes  children  afraid 
at  night.  If  I  call  one  of  mine  at  dead  of  night  and  say,  "  I  am 
sick  and  want  you  to  go  and  get  some  one  to  pray  for  me,"  they 
go.  I've  taught  them  that  God  will  take  care  of  them  in  the  night 
as  well  as  in  the  day. 

In  June  of  1916  we  went  to  Reelsboro,  N.  C,  to  hold  a  meet- 
ing in  a  little  Holiness  church,  with  a  few  of  as  good  people  as  I 
ever  saw,  and  I  will  say  they  had  as  much  opposition  as  I  ever 
saw.  The  young  people  were  very  hard-hearted  and  wicked.  Oh, 
how  they  do  mock,  and  make  fun  as  you  preach  to  them.  My 
husband  told  them  of  their  sin  and  what  was  their  doom.  Twelve 
young  men  had  waylaid  and  beaten  a  boy,  and  as  a  result,  he  was 
in  bed  for  some  time.  A  few  weeks  before  we  were  there,  part 
of  the  same  clan  made  a  plot  to  kill  my  husband,  or  to  beat  him. 
There  was  a  man  that  seemed  to  be  our  friend  who  heard  the 
plot,  and  one  evening  came  in  haste  to  notify  us  not  to  go  to 
church.  He  said  Mr.  Goff  would  be  shot  out  of  the  pulpit  that 
night.  The  man  was  much  alarmed,  and  said  they  were  desper- 
ate fellows.  He  nor  his  folks  would  not  go,  and  he  said  we  had. 
better  not  go.  Husband  refused  to  take  any  supper,  but  went 
to  the  woods  to  pray.  When  he  came  to  the  house  he  said  he  was. 
going  if  they  did  kill  him.  We  got  the  service  going,  when  about, 
six  or  eight  men  in  dirty  overalls  came  in  and  took  their  seats. 
Pretty  soon  one  got  mad,  shook  his  head  and  said  out  loud,  "  God 
Almighty."  He  left  the  church,  his  gang  following,  all  in  a  great 
rage.   They  beat  around  the  church,  talking  out  loud,  and  after 


78 


TESTS  AK0  TjRIUMPHS 


meeting,  as  we  were  going  out,  one  yelled  ow£r  "There's  your 
man!  "  No  one  laid  hold,  and  four  or  five  clever  young  fdlows 
from  Missouri,  who  loved  holiness,  went  with  us  about  hadif  a 
mile.  I  expected  to  be  fired  on  every  step  for  a  mile,  but  no  one 
fired.  We  walked  to  our  stopping  place.  We  had  very  good' 
order  after  that. 

When  we  came  home,  Sister  Julia  Salmon  told  nre  she  verily 
believed  it  was  the  same  night  that  when  she  went  to  pray,  some- 
thing said,  "  Brother  Goff.  Pray  for  him.  He  is  in  danger."  She 
felt  this  for  several  minutes.  She  could  do  nothing  but  beg  God 
to  take  care  of  him,  and  He  did.  That  was  one  night  I  decided 
to  die  a  martyr's  death.  These  boys  evidently  planned  and  came 
for  mischief.  The  man  that  brought  us  the  word  advised  us  to 
.get  the  sheriff,  but  we  trusted  in  God,  and  He  delivered1  us  from 
harm.  Husband's  life  was  threatened  at  Lake  City,  S.  C,  in 
Johnston  county,  N.  C,  and  in  several  other  places,  b^rt  so  far, 
harm  has  been  kept  away  from  him.  I've  taken  his  arm  twice, 
expecting  him  to  be  shot  very  step.  I  meant  to  die  by  him  or 
-with  him  if  any  attack  was  made.  It  means  something  to  die  in 
the  battlefield,  and  we  may  have  to  yet.  People  don't  want  to 
be  told  of  their  sins. 

In  the  summer  of  1919,  my  mother's  health  failed  and  she 
took  heart  dropsy.  She  had  shingles,  which  went  inside  of  her, 
then  she  took  blood  poison.  She  suffered  great  pain  for  months. 
She  had  trusted  God  since  1896  for  her  body.  Many  miracles  of 
healing  she  had  experienced,  and  in  her  death  sickness  she  was 
relieved  numbers  of  times  in  answer  to  prayer.  In  fact,  she  called 
her  sleep  "  prayer  naps."  Instead  of  morphine  she  called  for 
prayer,  and  would  get  relief  and  sleep.  The  blood  poisoning  set 
in  on  Sunday  evening  and  by  Monday  the  small  spot,  about  the 
size  of  a  dime,  on  her  leg  had  gone  to  her  hip.  Brothers  J.  A. 
and  J.  Elwin  Wright,  from  Rumney,  New  Hampshire,  were  in 
Falcon  holding  a  meeting.  They  went  with  me  to  pray  for  her. 
The  nurse  met  me  at  the  door  and  told  me  she  was  almost  gone. 
I  said,  "  We  must  pray."  We  went  in  and  prayed;  in  two  days 
the  blood  poison  had  almost  entirely  disappeared,  and  she  could 
sleep  soundly. 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS  79 

Sister  Dora  wrote  me  and  told  me  to  bring  the  same  men  to 
pray  again,  for  she  believed  mother  would  get  well.  We  went, 
she  praised  God  and  waved  her  hand  till  she  was  so  weak  that 
she  just  moved  her  fingers.  She  gave  every  one  around  her  a 
charge  to  live  right  and  to  meet  her  in  heaven.  She  said  to  all 
from  the  beginning  of  her  sickness  that  it  was  her  homegoing 
time.  She  would  tell  us  to  pray  for  her  to  rest,  but  she  had  to  go. 
She  told  the  deacon  of  the  church  to  take  care  of  the  church,  when 
she  thought  she  was  dying,  several  days  before  she  died.  She 
laughed  and  praised  God  like  she  was  in  a  revival.  There  were 
nine  Pentecostal  preachers  at  her  funeral.  We  gave  each  one  an 
opportunity  to  speak.  About  fifteen  spoke  of  their  love  for  her. 
One  woman  said  she  had  known  ma  all  her  life;  that  she  sang 
in  the  church  choir  and  taught  a  Sunday  school  class  since  she 
was  fourteen  years  old.  One  preacher  said  she  taught  him,  then 
his  children,  and  now  he  had  some  grandchildren.  She  had  taught 
at  Hodges  Chapel  for  forty  years.  One  preacher  said  he  had 
been  her  pastor  for  eleven  years,  and  she  was  never  absent,  ex- 
when  she  was  in  her  death  sickness.  Another  pastor  said  that 
when  he  served  the  church  for  six  years,  she  was  never  absent. 
He  said  when  his  sermon  failed  to  move  sinners,  ma's  exhortations 
and  prayers  never  failed  to  move  them.  I  never  knew  her  late  at 
church  in  my  life.  When  we  were  small,  we  lived  a  mile  from  the 
church.  Ma  arose  at  3:00  A.  M.  on  Sunday  and  cooked  enough 
to  feed  us  all,  and  anywhere  from  one  to  twenty  others.  We 
always  had  company  on  Sunday.  She  dressed  us  all  and  was 
at  Sunday  school  by  nine  o'clock  every  Sunday.  The  last 
summer  before  her  death  she  was  so  weak  she  would  start  an  hour 
or  two  before  time  and  get  there  in  time  to  sweep  the  church  and 
lie  down  and  rest  till  meeting  began.  Many  testified  to  her  help 
in  sickness  and  trouble.  Her  words  seemed  a  tonic  to  a  broken 
heart.  She  seemed  to  know  just  what  to  say  to  comfort  everyone 
Blessed  old  soul!  How  she  is  missed!  On  Sunday  morning, 
November  30,  1919,  she  calmly  fell  asleep  to  wake  no  more. 
During  her  sickness  hundreds  visited  her.  When  so  many  fresh 
flowers  and  nice  things  to  eat  were  sent  by  friends  for  miles 
around  she  said,  "  Well,  I  didn't  know  people  loved  me  so.'r 
There  were  people  from  seven  towns  at  her  funeral.    One  poor 


80 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


drunkard  came  weeping,  and  said  she  was  the  best  woman  he 
ever  saw.  Her  holy  life  had  its  effect  on  hundreds  of  people. 
She  loved  music,  was  a  good  singer  and  sang  in  the  choir  as  long 
as  she  could  get  there. 

In  1920  husband  and  the  girls  were  in  several  meetings.  The 
influenza  spread  so  in  the  fall  and  winter  of  1918  and  1919  that 
their  revival  work  was  much  hindered.  He  held  a  meeting  in 
Rocky  Mount,  and  one  at  Snow  Hill,  N.  C,  that  bade  fair  to  be  a 
real  revival.  The  altar  was  full  of  seekers,  and  people  came  for 
miles  through  the  rain  on  dark,  cold  nights.  The  courthouse 
would  hardly  hold  the  people  towards  the  last  of  the  meeting. 
The  "  flu  "  broke  out  again,  and  the  health  officers  had  churches 
and  schools  closed.  We  came  out  to  Fort  Run  Free-Will  Baptist 
church  and  held  a  meeting  among  our  old  neighbors  and  rela- 
tives. On  the  last  night  of  this  meeting  husband  was  much 
.burdened.  He  told  the  people  that  someone  there  in  that  church 
.never  would  hear  him  preach  again.  Among  the  seekers  was 
his  oldest  brother,  who  used  to  be'  saved  and  was  an  active 
member  at  Fort  Run,  but  Satan  led  him  off.  He  got  to  drinking, 
and  was  shot  on  April  10,  1920.  He  was  taken  to  Spicer's  Sana- 
torium at  Goldsboro,  N.  C.  We  received  this  sad  news  on  April 
12.  My  husband  had  driven  from  Dillon,  S.  C,  on  a  Ford,  and 
was  tired  down.  On  the  morning  of  April  13  he  left  for  Golds- 
boro. He  found  his  brother  very  sick.  He  prayed  for  him  day 
and  night,  and  on  April  15  he  told  my  husband  that  the  Lord  had 
saved  him.  He  lay  and  praised  God  and  he  prayed  till  he  died, 
on  the  16th.  This  was  a  great  blow  to  the  family  and  many 
friends  of  this  man. 

This  world  is  so  full  of  trouble!  Five  of  my  relatives  have 
met  untimely  deaths  in  one  year;  five  of  my  cousins,  all  strong 
young  men.  In  January,  1919,  two  Smith  boys  were  'shot  to 
death  and  both  buried  in  the  same  grave.  In  four  weeks  from 
then  Willis  Pleasant 's  throat  was  cut  while  he  was  in  the  Navy. 
April  4,  1920,  Wilbur  Lucas  was  playing  with  a  pistol  and  shot 
himself.  A  year  later  a  brother  of  the  Smith  boys  was  shot  for 
deserting  the  Army.  He,  too,  lies  by  his  brothers,  all  sons  of  one 
poor  broken-hearted  mother. 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


81 


In  the  winter  of  1917,  I  fell  on  the  ice  and  dislocated  my 
left  kidney.  I  suffered  all  that  winter  with  spells  like  kidney 
colic.  The  saints  would  come  and  pray  and  I'd  get  relief,  only 
to  have  another  spell  in  a  few  days.  I  kept  having  these  spells 
until  a  terrible  abscess  formed  back  of  my  kidney.  I  took  my 
bed  in  September,  1920,  the  first  day  I  had  lain  in  bed  in  twelve 
years.  I  kept  getting  worse,  and  sent  for  the  saints.  They  would 
pray  and  I  would  get  victory  in  my  soul  and  praise  God.  I  would 
be  so  happy,  and  feel  better  while  they  prayed  and  sang,  but  be- 
fore they  we're  out  of  the  house  my  sufferings  were  so  intense  I 
wished  I  could  die.  For  fifteen  days  and  nights  I  lay  there,  till  I 
was  so  sick  I  did  not  know  when  people  came.  My  husband  was 
in  Lake  View,  S.  C,  in  a  meeting.  Myrtle  came,  got  a  doctor, 
and  he  said  the  hospital  was  the  only  relief.  My  side  was  full  of 
pus  and  it  must  come  out.  I  was  carried  to  the  Cumberland 
General  Hospital,  at  Fayetteville,  N.  C.  They  operated  on  me 
October  5,  1920,  and  cut  a  place  six  inches  long,  just  below  my 
ribs,  nearly  to  my  spine.  They  said  they  had  never  had  such  a 
case  before.  I  lay  there,  drenched  in  bad  smelling  pus  for  S3 
days.  They  did  all  they  could  for  me.  I  lay  awake  for  five 
weeks,  only  while  under  the  influence  of  medicine  to  make  me 
sleep;  suffered  agony  no  tongue  can  tell.  My  husband  and 
Brother  Percy  Maxwell  came  for  me  on  November  21,  with  a 
mattress  in  the  bottom  of  a  seven-passenger  car,  with  a  feather 
bed  on  top.  Four  men  put  me  in  the  car.  I  came  home  to  live 
or  die.   The  nurses  said  I  was  coming  home  to  die. 

The  annual  convention  of  the  North  Carolina  Conference 
of  the  Pentecostal  Holiness  Church  began  in  a  few  days.  Some 
gathered  in  my  room  and  prayecl  till  I  was  greatly  helped.  I 
could  raise  my  head  up  by  myself  at  the  close  of  the  Convention. 
My  friends  were  so  nice  to  me  when  I  was  in  the  hospital,  and 
also  after  I  came  home.  My  table  was  kept  full  of  flowers  and 
fruit.  I  lay  there  and  wrote  over  a  hundred  letters  and  cards, 
read  the  New  Testament  through  in  two  weeks  in  the  hospital,  be- 
sides lots  of  other  things.  Sister  Hood,  of  Dunn,  N.  C,  sent  me 
lots  of  good  reading  matter.  My  friends  brought  me  lots  of  good 
things  to  eat,  and  gave  me  stationery,  stamps  and  money.  Well, 
lots  of  the  gifts  brought  tears  to  my  eyes.    One  little  girl  had 


82 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


nothing  else  to  send,  so  she  picked  an  envelope  full  of  hickory 
nuts  and  sent  to  me.  It  made  me  feel  she  loved  me,  and  I  knew 
it  was  her  very  best  gift.  Another  little  girl  made  up  money 
among  the  other  little  girls  and  brought  me  a  nice  pair  of  hose 
for  Christmas.  Another  one  brought  me  her  first  narcissus 
bloom.  It  told  its  love  story  from  the  vase  that  held  it  in  front 
of  my  bed  till  at  last  it  faded  and  died,  but  it  had  filled  its  mis- 
sion. 

Christmas  Day,  1920,  found  me  in  bed  suffering  intensely. 
I  read  fourteen  chapters  in  Job  that  day.  Then  I  decided  I'd 
had  no  losses,  no  trouble  and  but  little  afflction,  compared  with 
Job.  The  many  gifts  from  my  friends,  and  the  nice  trays  of 
food  that  came  to  me  during  the  holidays  helped  me  lots.  I'd 
read  so  much  of  the  suffering  in  Armenia,  caused  by  the  war, 
I  wanted  to  help  and  couldn't,  but  Brother  Culbreth  sent  them 
enough  to  feed  one  child  a  year  in  my  name  and  sent  me  a  card 
with  these  words  on  it,  which  gave  me  comfort: 

CHRISTMAS  1920. 

Dear  Sister  Goff, 

A  gift  for  you,  which  you  cannot  see, 

Because  it's  gone  so  far  away. 
It's  value  now  to  another  will  be 

But  greater  reward  to  you  some  day. 
In  His  Name, 

J.  A.  Culbreth. 

When  you  are  bedridden  so  long  as  to  have  such  suffering  as 
I  had,  you  will  learn  that  a  friend  that  shares  my  sorrow  makes  it 
a  "  moiety,"  but  they  swell  our  joy  and  make  it  double. 

"  No  friend  like  an  old  friend, 

Who  shares  our  mourning  days; 
No  greeting  like  their  welcome  — 

No  homage  like  their  praise." 

My  friends  came  from  my  old  home,  Clayton,  Durham,  and 
Kinston,  N.  C.  Well,  from  all  around  they  came.  They  prayed, 
sang  and  preached  for  me. 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


83 


In  January,  while  I  still  lay  flat  of  my  back,  Brother  Jesse 
James  began  a  revival  here  that  ran  without  a  break  for  nine 
weeks.  One  hundred  and  four  received  the  Holy  Ghost.  I  could 
hear  the  shouts  of  the  new  redeemed  ones  and  cries  of  the  seekers. 
The  children  were  the  first  to  get  blessed.  Four  little  girls  got 
saved  while  at  prayer  in  a  camp  one  afternoon.  From  that  their 
afternoon  prayer  meeting  grew  till  the  whole  school  was  in  it;  the 
girls  at  the  small  tabernacle  and  the  boys  in  the  school-house. 
For  days  many  tarried  before  God,  without  their  supper,  till  the 
town  and  whole  community  felt  it.  People  from  other  towns 
who  read  of  the  revival  began  to  come.  One  lady  from  Savannah, 
Georgia,  came  and  stayed  five  days.  She  heard  only  two  sermons. 
No  one  could  preach  when  the  power  fell  in  such  outbursts.  You 
could  not  hear  the  singing  of  the  choir.  It  was  a  hum-drum 
sound. 

On  March  6th  four  men  carried  me  on  a  cot  to  the  auditorium. 
I  thought  I  could  surely  count  those  that  shouted,  but  I  failed. 
I  could  count  blackbirds  as  well.  Men  of  75  down  to  children  of 
five  leaping  and  praising  God.  We  had  two  very  triumphant 
deaths  while  this  meeting  was  in  progress.  On  January  14th, 
the  wife  of  Pierce  Brooks  died;  on  February  17th  Sister  Ed 
Jolley  died.  While  Sister  Jolley  was  dying,  Mary  Butler,  a 
fourteen-year-old  girl,  was  praying  in  the  young  people's  prayer 
meeting.  She  was  lying  on  the  floor  in  a  trance  and  began  to 
say,  "  I  see  Sister  Jolley.  She's  in  heaven,  skipping  on  the 
Golden  Streets  with  Pierce's  wife."  In  ten  minutes  the  news 
came  that  Sister  Jolley  was  dead.  At  this  time  I  was  worse  than 
I  had  been  since  I  came  home.  The  doctor  told  my  husband 
I  might  possibly  live  till  April.  He  also  told  me  that  a  thousand 
doctors  could  not  cure  me.  My  sufferings  were  so  intense,  so 
that  I  despaired  of  life,  but  when  I  woke  up  on  February  18th, 
the  abscess  had  run  something  awful;  I  was  easy,  and  on  Feb- 
ruary 20th  I  received  a  letter  from  Brother  A.  G.  Doner,  of 
Peterboro,  Ontario,  Canada,  that  read  as  follows: 

Peterboro,  Ont.,  Feb.  17,  1921. 
Dear  Sister-Elect  in  Christ  Jesus: 

Last  night  at  2:30  I  was  sweetly  awakened  by  the  fieavenly 
Watcher  for  my  hour  of  intercession,  and  you  were  the  first  one 


84 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


to  rise  before  me.  I  was  so  glad  to  share  this  midnight  hour 
agonizing  for  you,  and  others,  as  the  dear  Holy  Spirit  made 
known  the  need.  Today,  I  have  been  led  to  write  a  few  lines 
to  you.  I  will  be  glad  to  hear  if  you  needed  help  at  the  exact 
time  indicated.  We  have  sympathized  with  you  in  your  pro- 
longed season  of  testing,  but  oh!  the  gold  the  Master  sees  in  you 
to  subject  you  to  the  fiery  crucible  so  long!  (See  Job  23:10  and 
Phil.  1:29.)  We  are  told  what  it  costs  us  to  pass  the  toll  gates 
this  way.  "  When  He  hath  tried  us,  we  shall  come  forth  as 
gold."  He  knows  how  hot  the  furnace  is,  and  just  when  to  re- 
move His  gold. 

There  are  cooling  fountains  up  there  for  the  thirsty, 

There's  a  cordial  up  there  for  the  faint; 
There  are  crowns  filled  with  stars, 

Prepared  for  each  conquering  saint. 

Now  be  of  good  cheer  and  extend  our  warmest  greetings  to  all 
your  family  and  saints  at  Falcon.  May  your  loved  ones  all 
listen  to  God  and  run  into  the  fold  before  the  awful  storm 
breaks. 

Cordially  yours  till  He  comes, 

A.  G.  Doner. 

I  was  better  before  I  received  this  letter,  and  began  to  take 
new  hold  on  life.  On  the  8th  of  March,  after  I  had  gone  to 
church  on  the  cot,  I  took  worse  again.  I  was  suffering  such 
intense  pain  I  felt  I  could  not  endure  it.  My  husband  saw 
I  was  suffering,  and  he  fell  on  his  knees  and  began  to  pray. 
While  he  was  praying  two  little  girls  came  in.  They  saw  I  was 
worse,  and  they  went  to  the  tabernacle,  where  the  prayer  meet- 
ing was  going  on.  They  told  the  others,  and  just  as  quickly  as 
they  could  come,  seventeen  girls  were  around  my  bed,  crying 
to  God  in  such  an  earnest,  beseeching  way  till  God  heard  and 
answered.  I  was  easy  in  less  time  than  it  has  taken  to  tell  this. 
I  slept  till  ten  o'clock  that  night.  The  next  day  I  got  a  letter 
from  Si6ter  F.  L.  Bramblett,  of  McCormick,  S.  C.  It  read  as 
follows : 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS  85 

Dear  Sister  Goif: 

You  have  been  very  forcibly  laid  upon  our  hearts  for  the 
past  few  days,  and  I  feel  so  impressed  this  morning  to  write  you 
a  few  lines  of  encouragement.  God  stands  ready  to  bring  you 
relief.  I  feel  God  wants  to  bring  you  up  off  that  bed  of  affliction. 
Let's  get  hold  of  God  with  renewed  efforts  and  trust  Him  for 
your  healing.  He  is  abundantly  able,  and  is  a  God  that  changeth 
not.  Reach  up!  Grasp!  Hold  on  with  a  faith  that  takes  no 
denial,  and  you  will  come  forth  as  gold!  He  can  heal  you. 
Glory!  Leave  the  symptoms  with  Him  and  expect  deliverance. 
We  shall  hold  on  to  God  for  your  healing.  Never  be  dis- 
couraged! In  Him  all  things  are  possible.  Catch  the  thought, 
believe  God!    May  God  bless  and  heal  you. 

Yours  in  Christian  love, 

(Mrs.)  F.  L.  Bramblett. 

This  was  the  last  bad  spell  I  had.  The  6th  of  March  a 
comoany  of  my  relatives  and  old  friends  came  to  see  me.  •  Among 
the  crowd  was  Cousin  John  Strickland.  He  said  a  preacher  told 
him  a  few  days  before  if  he  expected  to  see  me  alive  he  had 
better  come.  He  said  he  got  on  his  knees  and  asked  God  about 
it.  He  said,  "God  said,  '  She  will  live.'  "  They  had  prayer 
meeting  and  my  soul  was  blessed  in  a  wonderful  way.  In  a  day 
or  two  I  went  to  church  in  a  wheel  chair.  In  a  week  I  was  on 
crutches. 

As  every  Southern  reader  knows,  the  crash  in  prices  came  in 
the  fall  of  1920.  Cotton  that  cost  us  20  to  30  cents  per  pound 
to  produce  sold  for  9  to  10  cents  a  pound.  Many  farmers  lost 
their  homes.  We  lost  heavily  and  it  looked  like  everything  was 
going.  My  husband  was  shut  in  home  for  six  months,  expecting 
me  to  die,  and  expenses  were  heavy.  Irene  and  Rowland  were 
at  Elon  College.  We  could  not  meet  the  bill.  Rowland  came 
home,  but  Irene  prayed  and  begged  God  till  the  way  was  open 
for  her  to  finish  her  sophomore  year.  Before  Christmas  she 
wrote  to  her  papa  for  a  Sunday  dress.  She  said  she  was  the 
only  sophomore  honored  to  sing  in  the  college  choir,  and  the 
only  one  that  had  to  wear  a  middy  suit  everyday  and  on  Sunday 
.too.    He  wrote  her  that  he  could  not  get  the  black  satin  she 


So 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


wanted,  so  she  prayed  for  a  dress.  In  October,  while  I  was  so 
sick,  Pauline  Blaylock  died.  She  was  a  senior  at  the  State  Nor- 
mal at  Greensboro,  N.  C.  Her  mother  came  to  see  me  and  asked 
me  if  Irene  could  wear  Pauline's  clothes.  I  told  her  I  thought 
so,  and  the  next  day  she  came  with  a  large  suit  case  packed  with 
nice  clothes.  With  tears  in  her  eyes,  she  said,  "  If  my  child  could 
not  live  to  finish,  I  want  to  help  the  child  of  someone  else."  The 
first  piece  I  saw  was  a  real  nice  black  satin  dress.  It  was  just 
what  Irene  had  prayed  for.  This  was  her  junior  year,  and  in  some 
way  or  other  the  way  opened  up  for  her  to  go  back  and  her  needs 
were  supplied  for  almost  another  year. 

In  April,  instead  of  going  to  the  graveyard,  I  got  on  a  car 
and  went  to  Brother  Blaylock's,  and  spent  a  week  while  my  hus- 
band preached  in  his  home.  They  were  so  nice  to  me,  and  took 
me  to  my  sister's  home  in  Dunn.  I  heard  Dr.  G.  D.  Watson  a 
week,  then  went  to  South  Creek  on  a  hundred-mile  trip.  Had  to 
change  three  times.  My  husband  stayed  three  weeks.  The 
revival  was  at  such  white  heat  I  stayed  another  week,  sitting  in 
a  rocking  chair  on  an  air  cushion  and  pillows.  On  the  day  my 
husband  left,  two  men  were  sanctified,  a  woman  saved,  and  a 
girl  got  the  Holy  Ghost.  He  had  to  come  home  to  attend  to 
some  business,  but  he  came  back  on  Staurday,  and  closed  the 
meeting  on  Sunday  night  with  great  victory. 

We  stopped  at  Chocowinity  and  had  three  services.  We  saw 
some  of  our  old  friends. 

We  went  to  Faro  and  had  a  meeting  in  the  new  church.  The 
ride  of  seventy  miles  there  on  a  Ford  made  me  sick.  I  was  in 
bed  at  Brother  Joe  West's  for  three  days,  but  I  was  cared  for 
as  tenderly  as  if  I  had  been  in  my  own  home.  . 

We  went  from  Faro  to  Greenville,  N.  C,  for  a  meeting. 
Brother  A.  H.  Butler  and  son,  James,  and  Bliss  helped  us  there. 
The  saints  in  Greenville  are  a  good,  big-hearted  set  of  people. 
They  were  very  nice  to  us.  I  ate  more  barbecue  there  than  at 
any  place  I  have  ever  been.  We  spent  our  wedding  anniversary 
there.  Bro.  Heber  Baker  gave  us  a  splendid  wedding  supper. 
We  had  been  married  22  years  on  July  4,  1921;  have  had  14 
children  born  in  our  home,  and  have  been  in  evangelistic  meetings 
some  every  year.    God  has  fed  and  clothed  us;  we  have  come 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


87 


through  deep  waters;  through  heated  furnaces  and  then  out 
into  green  pastures.  Glory! 

When  I  was  taken  sick  my  baby  was  seven  weeks  old.  Myr- 
tle had  married,  Irene  was  at  Elon  College,  and  this  left  Bliss 
with  the  care  of  the  baby,  the  family  and  the  house.  The  baby 
was  cross,  sick,  cried,  gave  Bliss  lots  of  trouble,  but  she  stood  the 
storm  like  a  brave  soldier,  and  nursed  me  and  kept  things  going 
till  the  neighbors  wondered  how  a  girl  could  do  so  much. 

We  went  to  Stantonsburg,  N.  C,  and  held  a  meeting  in  July, 
1921,  and  then  went  to  Aulander  Camp  Meeting.  We  got  home 
just  before  our  Camp  Meeting,  and  found  a  48-room  Camping 
House,  which  had  been  built  in  just  a  few  days.  This  was  full 
of  campers  the  first  year.  The  Camp  Meeting  was  a  great  help 
to  me.  The  people  fasted  the  first  day  for  my  deliverance, 
as  I  was  still  on  crutches.  I  laid  them  aside  in  Jesus'  name  and 
have  been  going  in  His  name  ever  since. 

We  had  a  meeting  at  Plain  View  Free-Will  Baptist  church, 
in  Sampson  County,  N.  C.  We  had  a  good  meeting.  John 
Messick  helped  us  the  first  week.  He  was  praying  for  funds 
to  go  back  to  Elon  College  and  finish,  as  it  was  his  last  year. 
The  Lord  opened  the  way  for  him.  He,  too,  has  prayed  his 
way  through.  He  has  stood  the  tests  of  college  life  without 
playing  ball. 

We  held  a  second  meeting  in  Stantonsburg  at  the  urgent 
request  of  the  people.  From  Stantonsburg  went  to  Kinston, 
N.  C,  where  we  had  preached  twenty  years  before.  We  had  a 
good  meeting;  spent  some  pleasant  days  with  our  friends  that 
had  stood  by  us  twenty  years  ago. 

In  November  we  went  to  Columbia,  S.  C.  Here  we  had 
a  most  glorious  revival.  The  church  wouldn't  hold  the  people. 
We  stayed  there  three  weeks.  Our  next  meeting  was  at  Owen's 
Grove  Free-Will  Baptist  church,  in  Sampson  County.  We  stayed 
there  a  week  and  had  a  good  meeting  started,  when  we  had  to 
close  as  Christmas  was  so  near.  We  were  getting  ready  for  a  tour 
in  the  North. 

We  started  for  Conneaut,  Ohio,  on  December  29,  1921,  and 
arrived  there  December  31.  The  first  service  was  grand  and  the 
altar  full  of  seekers.    Among  the  number  was  the  pastor's  son, 


88 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


that  had  been  quite  a  prodigal.  Much  prayer  had  gone  to  God 
for  him.  He  was  saved  and  gave  up  his  cigarettes  that  night. 
He  kept  on  seeking  and  received  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  third 
service,  and  such  an  untiring  worker  he  was!  He  prayed  over 
seekers  all  night,  or  until  two  or  three  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
God  gave  us  a  great  time.  Our  home  was  in  the  Franklin  Faith 
Home.  Several  years  ago,  Sister  Franklin  said  God  kept  saying 
to  her,  "A  Home  for  the  Homeless."  They  have  a  nice  thirteen- 
room  house;  she  opened  by  faith  in  God,  her  doors  to  the  home- 
less, and  she  has  cared  for  many  needy  ones  since.  When  I 
was  there,  there  was  one  blind,  one  most  helpless  with  cancer, 
and  several  others  that  could  not  wait  on  themselves.  I  shall 
remember  a  long  time  how  Sister  Franklin  would  go  from  one 
to  another,  stroke  their  forehead,  kiss  them  and  pray  God  to  bless 
and  help  them.  Old  Sister  Norton  would  go  to  praising  God  and 
talking  in  tongues,  and  forget  how  tired  of  the  bed  she  was.  The 
dear  old  soul  went  to  heaven  in  a  few  days  after  we  left  Conneaut. 
She  was  sleeping  when  she  passed  out.  Sister  Franklin  is  a 
woman  of  rare  zeal  and  faith.  Brother  Franklin  and  their 
daughter,  Ruth,  are  true  co-workers.  They  pray  an  hour  every 
morning.  Here,  God  gave  me  an  extra  touch.  My  side  drained 
less  there  than  at  any  time  since  my  operation.  I  do  not  know 
where  you  would  go  for  help  if  you  couldn't  get  help  in  that 
atmosphere  of  prayer  and  praise.  From  Conneaut  we  went  to 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  to  visit  my  aunt,  the  only  one  I  have  living. 
I  had  not  seen  her  in  twenty-five  years.  She  has  been  a  shut-in 
for  six  years.  It  was  a  treat  to  see  her  on  this  side  of  heaven, 
a  thing  I  had  never  dreamed  of  when  she  moved  out  there. 

We  went  to  Greenville,  Pa.,  and  held  meeting  for  Sister 
Plummer.  She  has  a  good  band  of  saints  there.  Her  husband 
got  sanctified  and  several  received  the  Holy  Ghost. 

We  went  from  Greenville  to  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  to  have  meetings 
in  Brother  R.  E.  Erdman's  Mission.  Brother  Erdman  is  the  man 
who  invited  us  and  planned  all  this  tour  for  us.  He  has  a  strong 
band  and  a  well  fixed  mission.  He  has  bought  a  four-story 
brick  building,  that  cost  fifty  thousand  dollars  to  build,  for 
fifteen  thousand  dollars.  They  and  two  other  families  live  in 
the  mission  and  have  a  large  assembly  room,  well  fixed.  The 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS  89 

people  believe  in  the  whole  Bible.  Brother  Erdman  has  had  a 
nice  mission  in  Buffalo  over  twenty  years.  Ten  received  the 
Holy  Ghost  while  we  were  there.  The  people  were  very  kind 
to  us  in  every  way.  We  were  invited  to  many  homes  to  meals 
that  would  have  done  honor  to  a  king.  Brother  Erdman  and 
his  noble  wife  were  like  a  real  father  and  mother  to  us.  He  took 
us  to  Niagara  Falls  and  over  into  Canada. 

We  came  to  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  from  Buffalo  to  have  meetings  for 
Brother  Frank  and  Will  Casley.  These  brothers  had  charge  of 
thirteen  missions  in  and  around  Pittsburg.  Our  first  stop  was  in 
Brother  Frank  Casley's  home.  There  were  four  returned  mis- 
sionaries and  quite  a  number  of  preachers  and  Christian  workers 
who  came  in  from  other  towns  around.  The  Casley  Brothers 
have  been  running  these  missions  twenty  years.  They  have 
sent  over  two  hundred  missionaries,  including  the  native  workers 
they  have  supported,  to  the  foreign  field.  They  have  sent  over 
ten  thousand  dollars  a  year  to  missions.  Brother  Frank  has 
been  to  the  South  Sea  Islands,  India  and  China.  His  wife  and 
Brother  Will's  wife  play,  sing,  preach  and  are  real  helpmeets  in 
the  Lord's  work.  Their  homes  are  free  boarding  places  for 
God's  people  from  all  over  the  world.  God  richly  supplies  their 
needs.  They  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost  having  right  of  way, 
even  if  it  tears  up  the  biggest  man-planned  sermon  ever  preached. 
They  have  a  revival  spirit  going  all  the  time.  They  are  mighty 
men  of  faith  and  prevailing  prayer.  One  night  when  we  were 
having  service  in  Turtle  Creek,  near  Brother  Frank  and  Will's 
home,  they  called  two  trained  singers  to  the  platform  for  a 
special  song.  The  man  threw  up  his  hand  and  began  to  speak 
in  tongues.  He  sat,  or  fell  flat  on  the  floor.  The  organist  began 
to  shout.  The  lady  singer  caught  the  flame  and  it  caught  over 
the  mission  till  everyone  seemed  to  be  feeling  the  power.  I  guess 
they  shouted  twenty  minutes  before  they  got  still  enough  to  sing 
the  special  song.  There  were  three  Catholics  saved;  two  received 
the  Holy  Ghost  at  Buffalo.  One  spoke  in  the  Norwegian  lan- 
guage, as  two  brothers  from  Norway  were  there  and  gave  out 
what  they  said.    One  Catholic  was  saved  at  Turtle  Creek. 

I  came  home  from  Turtle  Creek.  Husband  stayed  and  held 
meetings  at  Vandergrift  and  McKeesport,  then  went  to  Toronto, 


90 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


Canada.  He  had  good  meetings  at  all  these  places.  One  thing 
of  peculiar  interest,  we  didn't  have  to  rebuke  a  person  for  bad 
behavior.  They  go  to  meeting  in  snow  or  sleet,  in  rain  or  storm; 
they  are  there,  and  they  will  stay  up  and  pray  for  seekers  all 
night  if  they  see  any  hopes  of  their  going  through. 

I  came  home  and  stayed  a  week,  then  I  received  a  letter 
from  Sister  Lucy  Bundy  to  go  and  have  some  prayer  meetings 
with  her,  as  she  had  been  shut  in  all  winter.  She  lives  in  Ben- 
nettsville,  S.  C.  I  went,  and  she  seemed  greatly  blessed.  I  had 
meetings  in  her  home  from  Thursday  till  Saturday  night.  Bro- 
ther Cannon  invited  me  over  to  the  mission  where  he  was  pas- 
tor. I  went,  had  a  house  full,  and  found  so  many  hungry  hearts 
that  I  wanted  to  stay,  but  got  a  message  that  my  married  daugh- 
ter, Myrtle,  had  pneumonia.  Bliss  had  gone  to  nurse  her,  and 
I  came  home  on  Monday,  but  promised  to  go  back  as  soon  as 
Myrtle  got  able  for  Bliss  to  leave  her.  In  about  ten  days  I  went 
back,  and  in  the  first  service  in  the  mission  twenty-three  came 
to  the  altar.  Fifteen  arose  from  there  praising  God,  and  testified 
to  being  saved.  I  stayed  there  ten  days.  The  mission  was  so 
crowded  that  people  had  to  press  their  way  to  the  altar,  but  many 
came  up  shouting.  I  went  out  to  Bolton's  Chapel  and  had  one 
service.  I  spent  the  night  with  my  dear  old  friends,  the  Bolton 
family.  It  had  been  ten  years  since  I  was  there.  A  nice  church 
had  been  built,  and  there  was  a  nice  band  of  saints.  Since  then 
our  old  friend,  Brother  Bolton,  is  gone  to  his  reward.  His  wife 
is  very  feeble,  her  sight  almost  gone.  She  can't  see  to  read  her 
Bible,  and  her  hearing  is  bad,  but  her  heart  is  awake.  She  loves 
God's  people  and  holiness  as  good  as  ever. 

I  spent  one  night  in  McColl,  S.  C,  where  I  had  a  good  ser- 
vice.   I  saw  many  we  learned  to  love  years  ago. 

Husband  came  home  from  Toronto  on  April  19,  1922.  Had 
been  gone  since  December  29th.  He  then  waited  a  short  time 
for  his  new  tent,  and  went  to  a  meeting  in  Clayton,  N.  C,  on 
May  1st. 

Thus  I  have  told  you  a  few  of  our  tests  and  triumphs  during 
eleven  years.  I  have  looked  death  in  the  face;  my  husband  has 
been  almost  killed,  once  by  a  mule,  and  again  by  an  overturned 
car.    He  was  pinned  under  the  steering  wheel  of  the  car,  and 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


91 


crushed  almost  to  death  while  I  lay  at  death's  door  in  the  hos- 
pital. We  have  had  shadows  and  sunshine;  suffering  and  losses 
too  numerous  to  mention.  Yet,  the  cloud  has  never  hung  too  low 
nor  looked  so  black  but  that  it  had  a  silver  lining.  "  Weeping 
may  endureth  for  a  night,  but  joy  cometh  in  the  morning." 


REPENTANCE. 

SERMON  BY  H.  H.  GOFF. 

Text:  "And  the  times  of  this  ignorance  God  winked  at;  but 
now  commandeth  all  men  everywhere  to  repent."    Acts  17  :  30. 

SOME  INTRODUCTORY  REMARKS. 

The  Apostle  Paul  is  the  hero  of  the  whole  narrative.  He  was 
on  his  second  missionary  journey,  and  was  waiting  for  some  of 
his  colleagues  in  the  city  of  Athens,  the  capital  of  Attica,  and 
the  chief  seat  of  Grecian  learning  and  civilization  during  the  gol- 
den period  of  the  history  of  Greece. 

Athens  is  said  to  have  derived  its  name  from  the  prominence 
given  to  the  worship  of  the  goddess  of  Athena,  Minerva,  by  its 
king,  Erechtheus,  and  the  apostle  tells  us  in  verse  16  of  the 
same  chapter  that  our  text  is  in,  that  his  spirit  was  stirred  in  him 
when  he  saw  the  city  wholly  given  to  idolatry  (or,  to  the  devil), 
and  this  started  him  to  preaching  against  their  sins,  and  of  course 
they  would  not  stand  for  that,  therefore  he  was  taken  and  brought 


92 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


before  the  highest  judge  and  court  of  Athens,  the  Bible  says, 
because  he  preached  unto  them  Jesus  and  the  resurrection. 

Paul  told  them  that  they  ought  not  to  think  that  the  God- 
head was  gold,  silver,  or  like  it,  but  cries  out  in  the  language  of 
the  text  and  says,  "  The  times  of  this  ignorance  God  winked  at 
(or,  looked  over),  but  now  commandeth  all  men  everywhere  io 
repent." 

Tradition  says  that  Athens  had  so  many  idols  until  they  them- 
selves were  so  dissatisfied  that  they  decided  in  a  council  meeting 
to  take  a  lamb  in  the  midst  of  their  idols  and  stab  a  knife  in  its 
heart,  and  turn  it  loose  to  die,  and  whichever  idol  it  fell  at,  would 
have  the  supremacy  over  all  the  rest;  but  the  lamb  died  out  in 
the  open,  hence  the  idol  with  the  inscription,  "  To  the  Unknown 
God,"  The  above  is  what  the  apostle  calls  ignorance,  and  says 
God  winked  at,  or  excused  it,  but  now  He  commandeth  repent- 
ance. 

We  draw  the  following  conclusions  from  this  text: 

1.  Repentance  is  a  command,  so  that  no  one  can  treat  the 
subject  lightly  without  breaking  one  of  God:s  commandments, 
hence  its  importance. 

2.  All  people  are  included,  so  no  one  has  an  excuse.  The 
doctrine  that  some  men  can  repent  and  others  cannot,  is  false 
so  far  as  God's  provision  goes.  It  is  true  that  people  can  reject 
God's  Word  and  message  till  I  believe  they  cross  the  dead  line, 
but  it  is  not  God's  fault.  Oh,  I  am  so  glad  that  God  made  it 
possible  that  all  men  everywhere  can  obey  this  text  and  find  sal- 
vation. 

Now  the  question  naturally  arises:  What  is  repentance?  In 
order  to  answer  it  correctly,  let  us  consider  what  it  is  not. 

First,  it  is  not  reformation,  although  one  cannot  repent  with- 
out reforming  his  life. 

Second,  it  is  not  church  joining,  though  I  believe  that  when 
people  are  saved  they  should  join  the  church. 

Third,  it  is  not  water  baptism,  and  yet,  according  to  the 
Bible,  water  baptism  is  all  right. 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


9.3 


Fourth,  it  is  not  taking  the  Lord's  Supper,  nor  communion, 
nor  foot-washing,  and  yet  all  of  these  have  their  place  in  the 
church  and  for  believers. 

Fifth,  it  is  not  paying  your  money  to  the  ministry  nor  for 
missions,  nor  for  the  support  of  the  church  in  general,  and  yet  I 
cannot  see  how  one  can  be  a  Bible  Christian  without  doing  this. 

Now  let  us  consider  what  repentance  is. 

First,  it  is  conviction  for  sin.  In  Acts  2:37  we  read,  "Now 
when  they  heard  this  (what  was  it  they  heard?  Peter  preach- 
ing about  the  crucified  Christ,  in  verse  36),  they  were  pricked  in 
their  heart."  The  word  "  pricked  "  signifies  stung,  or  having  se- 
vere pain,  and  that  is  what  the  Holy  Ghost  causes  in  convicting 
sinners.  It  is  no  pleasant  thing.  King  David's  experience  in 
Psalm  116:3  describes  the  condition  of  a  sinner  under  convic- 
tion: "  The  sorrows  of  death  compassed  me,  and  the  pains  of 
hell  gat  hold  upon  me:  I  found  trouble  and  sorrow."  Hence 
Paul's  words  in  2  Cor.  7:10,  "  For  godly  sorrow  worketh  repent- 
ance." There  is  surely  sorrow  and  weeping  when  real  Holy  Ghost 
conviction  comes  on  a  person. 

Second,  it  is  a  confession  of  sin.  1  John  1:  9  reads:  "  If  we 
confess  our  sins,  He  is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins." 
It  is  very  essential  indeed  that  folks  confess  their  sins,  if  repent- 
ance is  effective  in  the  lives  of  those  who  profess  to  have  repented. 
It  is  impossible  for  anyone  to  repent  according  to  the  Bible  stand- 
ard and  not  confess  his  sins.  Hence  we  read  in  Prov.  28:13: 
"  He  that  covereth  his  sins  (or  refuses  to  confess  them)  shall  not 
prosper  (be  forgiven),  but  whoso  confesseth  and  forsaketh  shall 
have  mercy  (or  be  forgiven)." 

I  was  conducting  a  meeting  several  years  ago  near  Wilming- 
ton, N.  C,  and  a  young  man  began  to  go  to  the  altar  and  seek 
God,  but  couldn't  get  through.  I  gave  a  message  on  confess- 
ing out,  and  this  man  soon  found  his  trouble,  and  went  and  con- 
fessed to  an  old  colored  man  that  he  had  defrauded  him  out  of 
a  dollar  in  a  settlement  of  some  business  between  them.  It  is 
needless  to  say  that  he  found  salvation,  for  I  tell  you  God  came 
upon  him  in  a  wonderful  way.  I  saw  him  last  summer  (1923), 
and  he  was  still  on  the  way.   Glory  to  God  forever! 


94 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


Third,  it  is  a  forsaking  of  sin.  We  read  in  Isaiah  55:7:  "  Let 

the  wicked  forsake  his  way,  and  the  unrighteous  man  his 
thoughts:  and  let  him  return  unto  the  Lord,  and  He  will  have 
mercy  upon  him,  and  to  our  God,  for  He  will  abundantly  par- 
don."  Hallelujah  to  the  Lamb  forever  and  ever! 

Fourth,  it  is,  or  includes,  restitution;  for  we  read  in  Luke, 
19th  chapter,  of  Zaccheus  (which  means  pure),  a  tax  collector 
near  Jericho,  who,  being  short  of  stature,  climbed  up  into  a  syc- 
amore tree  in  order  to  obtain  a  glimpse  of  Jesus  as  He  passed 
by  that  place.  He  was  a  Jew,  as  may  be  inferred  from  his  name, 
and  from  the  fact  that  the  Savior  speaks  of  him  expressly  as  a 
son  of  Abraham.  The  term  which  designates  his  office  —  the 
chief  among  the  publicans  —  is  unusual,  but  'describes  him,  no 
doubt,  as  the  superintendent  of  customs  or  tribute  in  the  district 
of  Jericho,  where  he  lived.  The  office  must  have  been  a  lucrative 
one  in  such  a  region,  and  it  is  not  strange  that  Zaccheus  is  men- 
tioned by  the  evangelist  as  a  rich  man.  But  nevertheless,  he 
wanted  to  see  Jesus,  and  when  anyone  has  such  a  desire,  they  will 
see  Him,  even  if  they  have  to  climb  a  tree  to  do  so;  and  further- 
more, they  will  do  what  this  man  did  in  order  to  get  salvation. 

First,  he  was  willing  to  help  feed  the  poor;  second,  he  was 
willing  to  restore  anything  he  had  taken  wrongfully.  We  read  in 
Luke  19:8:  "And  Zaccheus  stood  and  said  unto  the  Lord,  Behold, 
Lord,  the  half  of  my  goods  I  give  to  the  poor;  and  if  I  have  taken 
anything  from  any  man  by  false  accusation,  I  restore  him  four- 
fold." 

The  same  man  mentioned  is  this  message  as  going  to  an  old 
colored  man  and  confessing  to  cheating  or  defrauding  him  out  of 
a  dollar,  went  a  step  farther  and  restored  the  old  negro  his  dollar, 
and  salvation  came  to  this  man  and  his  house  as  it  did  to  Zac- 
cheus and  his  house. 

I  shall  never  forget  how  this  young  man  came  back  to  ser- 
vice after  he  had  made  this  restitution,  with  such. a  shout,  and  a 
shine  on  his  face,  and  how  it  brought  conviction  on  the  people, 
and  an  old-fashioned  revival  followed  as  the  result  of  such  re- 
pentance, viz.,  conviction  for  sin  and  confession  of  sin  or  sins, 
forsaking  of  sins,  and  restitution  of  everything  that  God  requires 
of  a  person. 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS 


95 


A  TESTIMONY. 

I  praise  God  that  I  did  repent  just  as  I  have  tried  to  explain 
above.  Oh,  how  my  poor  heart  did  ache  under  Holy  Ghost  con- 
viction, and  then  such  a  struggle  as  the  Spirit  bade  me  confess 
out.  When  willing  to  do  this,  then  the  task  seemed  harder  when 
I  was  bid  to  forsake  and  turn  away  from  my  sins;  but  a  climax 
was  reached  when  God  said,  "  You  must  restore  some  things." 

I  will  here  relate  two  or  three  incidents  in  this  connection, 
one  under  the  head  of  confession.  A  man  and  I  had  had  some 
trouble  which  resulted  in  a  fight,  in  which  the  man  took  advan- 
tage of  me,  being  in  his  brother-in-law's  house,  and  I  pledged 
myself  to  get  even  with  him  if  it  cost  my  life,  but  oh,  when  this 
load  of  conviction  got  hold  of  me  sure  enough,  I  said,  "  Yes,  Lord, 
I  will  go  to  this  man  and  confess  to  him  all,"  and  I  did,  glory  to 
God,  ana  the  results  were  so  fruitful  till  after  that  I  sat  in  his 
barber  chair  and  let  the  man  shave  me;  so  you  see,  reader,  the 
enmity  was  gone  from  us  both,  hallelujah! 

Also  I  confessed  to  my  father  and  mother.  Oh,  how  sweet  it 
is  when  you  really  obey  the  Spirit.  And  last,  but  not  least,  I  had 
to  make  some  restitutions.  I  used  to  drink  strong  drink,  and 
about  seven  months  before  I  was  converted  I  bought  half  a  gallon 
of  whiskey  and  got  on  a  terrible  drunk,  and  it  came  so  near  kill- 
ing me  I  decided  I  wouldn't  pay  the  saloon-keeper  for  it,  for  I 
had  purchased  it  on  a  credit.  But  God  showed  me  that  I  must 
not  only  confess  this  wrong,  but  must  pay  the  man  for  it,  which 
was  seventy-five  cents.  I  tell  you,  it  took  all  the  strength  mor- 
ally I  had,  but  I  met  it  like  a  man.  This  man  lived  in  our  county 
seat.  I  had  no  idea  then  that  I  would  ever  be  a  preacher,  but 
five  years  after  my  conversion  I  was  led  by  the  Spirit  to  go  to  my 
old  home  town  to  conduct  a  meeting,  and  one  of  the  first  men  I 
met  after  I  got  in  town  was  this  saloon-keeper,  but  thank  God,  I 
could  look  him  in  the  face  and  remember  that  I  had  put  in  prac- 
tice first  what  I  was  to  preach  in  his  town,  and  God  gave  me  a 
wonderful  revival  there. 

Glory,  glory,  glory  for  oldtime  repentance! 


9o 


TESTS  AND  TRIUMPHS. 


CONCLUSION. 

In  June,  1922,  our  daughter  Bliss  was  married  to  Allie  Cooper, 
and  they  received  presents  from  seven  States  and  Canada. 

On  April  8th  I  received  a  telegram  that  our  Myrtle  was  ill. 
Husband  was  in  Bennettsville,  S.  C,  in  a  meeting.  I  went  to  her 
alone.  She  was  unconscious,  and  never  spoke  to  me;  had  sixteen 
convulsions  in  twelve  hours,  and  passed  away,  leaving  a  boy  21 
months  old  and  a  day-old  baby.  Bro.  A.  E.  Robinson  conducted 
her  funeral  in  the  M.  E.  church  at  Eureka,  and  she  was  laid  to 
rest  in  the  cemetery  there.  This  was  the  third  time  Irene  had  to 
come  home  to  a  funeral  in  the  four  years  she  spent  in  college  — 
my  mother,  her  Uncle  Joe  Goff,  and  now  her  sister. 

While  in  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  we  met  a  nurse  named  Eleanor  Barn- 
hart.  Bro.  Erdman  told  me  she  gave  much  to  God's  cause,  and  I 
found  this  to  be  true.  On  leaving  there,  she  gave  us  $300.  We 
had  been  praying  for  money  to  buy  a  tent.  She  kept  sending  me 
money  till  July,  1922,  when  our  baby  was  born,  and  we  named 
it  for  her.  She  afterward  sent  baby  and  me  almost  a  hundred 
dollars,  clothes  for  the  baby,  and  other  things. 

In  September,  when  Irene  started  back  to  Elon  to  finish  her 
course,  she  didn't  have  a  cent.  She  borrowed  $100  from  Sister 
Barnhart.  At  Christmas  she  wrote  to  ask  me  what  kind  of  clothes 
Irene  needed.  I  wrote  her  she  was  willing  to  wear  old  clothes;  if 
she  could  help  her,  to  lend  her  some  more  money,  for  she  would 
have  to  stop  unless  she  could  borrow  more.  Miss  Barnhart  sent 
her  the  note  Irene  had  given  her,  for  Christmas,  mailed  $200  more 
and  later  S3 00  more,  so  she  was  able  to  receive  her  diploma  in 
May,  1923.    All  this  was  in  answer  to  prayer. 

Jan.  6.  1924,  our  dear  old  friend,  R.  H.  Allen,  died.  Husband 
was  with  him  when  he  died,  and  preached  his  funeral. 

I  have  been  tested  about  money  to  get  out  this  book,  but  God 
used  Bros.  W.  S.  Foxworth,  H.  W.  Jernigan  and  S.  D.  Page  to 
help  us  get  it  out.  by  lending  us  money,  for  which  we  thank  God. 

Well,  Camp  Meeting  begins  today,  August  7,  1921.  God  has 
called  several  of  our  number  home  since  last  Camp.  Let's  be 
ready  when  our  call  comes.  I  want  to  meet  you  in  the  Golden 
City  Florence  Goff. 


The  Standard  Primery 


